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THE BOYS’ PLAYBOOK 
OF CHEMISTRY 

























Courtesy “Science and Invention” 

The small supply of chemicals necessary for the home laboratory 



Courtesy “Science and Invention” 

Young chemist heating a solution in an evanorating dish over a 

Bunsen burner 








THE BOYS’ PLAYBOOK 
OF CHEMISTRY 


BY 

RAYMOND FRANCIS YATES 

Former Managing Editor of “Popular Science Monthly”; 
Member of American Physical Society, American 
Institute, Electrical Engineers, Institute 
of Radio Engineers, American Society of 
Mechanical Engineers 


SKETCHES BY THE AUTHOR 




THE CENTURY CO 

New York and London 







qS^ 


Copyright, 1923 , by 
The Century Co. 



$/• 6 O 

PRINTED IN U. S. A. 

©C1A760750 

OCT 30 ’23 


Dedicated 

TO THE MEMORY OF A DEAR FRIEND, 

CARLTON ELMER HARMON 

in whose untimely passing the 
world lost a noble mind, a big 
spirit, and a conscientious and 
tireless student of chemistry. 


N 













PREFACE 


The performance of simple chemical experi¬ 
ments in a little attic laboratory will afford no 
end of pleasure to the boy with an inquiring mind. 
Contrary to general belief, chemical experimen¬ 
tation is not hazardous, nor does it involve a great 
outlay of money. Much of the apparatus used 
can be put together with odds and ends found 
about the house, while the corner drug-store may 
be the chief source of supply for the small amount 
of chemicals needed. The amateur chemist must, 
of course, bear it in mind that acids cause burns, 
that many salts are poisonous, and that explosions 
are dangerous. To be on the safe side, he should 
always keep a supply of water on hand. Chemi¬ 
cals should not be handled with the fingers. 

Chemistry is a most fascinating science, hold¬ 
ing out, as it does, endless experimentation of the 
most miraculous nature. Oftentimes two inno¬ 
cent chemicals placed in a beaker will produce a 
marvelous result, bringing into play some of the 
grandest forces of nature. Then, too, chemistry 
is a potentially creative science. 

Industrial chemistry is like laboratory chem- 


PREFACE 

istry except that it is carried out on a large scale. 
A study of simple laboratory experiments will 
help to give us an insight into the processes used 
by the great chemical industries that supply us 
with such important substances as soap, powder, 
paint, sulphuric acid, nitric acid, aluminum, and 
celluloid. 

The author desires to acknowledge his indebted¬ 
ness to his wife, through whose kindly assistance 
and painstaking effort in typing the manuscript 
rapid production of the work was made possible. 

If this little treatment awakens any ambition 
in but one of its youthful readers, the author will 
feel that the thought and time used in its prepara¬ 
tion was well spent. 

Raymond Francis Yates. 

Washington Heights, 

New York City, 

May 15, 1923. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I What Is Chemistry?., 3 


II The Little Bricks of Matter » 13 

III Rigging up the Chemical Laboratory . . IB 

IV Experimenting with Two Important Gases 39 

V Stunts with Other Gases . 54 

VI The Things We Call Acids, Bases, and 

Salts.79 

VII The Chemical Story of Metals . . . 92 

VIII Experiments.104 

IX Why Chemistry and Electricity Are 

Partners.146 

X Chemistry around the Household . . . 155 

XI How the Boy Chemist Can Make His Own 

Fireworks. 162 

168 


Appendix 











LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


The small supply of chemicals necessary for the 
home laboratory. Young chemist heating a 
solution in an evaporating dish over a Bunsen 
burner. Frontispiece 


FACING PAGE 

Heating a test-tube over a Bunsen burner ... 26 

The young chemist discovers that sulphuric acid 


carbonizes paper. . 26 

Heating a mineral in the Bunsen flame .... 96 

Using the wash-bottle.96 

Analyzing with the flame.132 


Young chemist experimenting with the blow-pipe . 132 

























BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF 
CHEMISTRY 




















BOYS’ PLAYBOOK 
OF CHEMISTRY 

CHAPTER I 

WHAT IS CHEMISTRY? 

What is chemistry? That is a question that we 
should answer before we delve into what is, with¬ 
out doubt, the most fascinating of all the sciences. 
Indeed, there is more romance in a chemistry- 
book than in the best fairy-book ever printed. 
Chemistry is interesting not only because of the 
magical results that may be produced but because 
it is so intimately related to the things that we do 
every day. When we light a match, click the shut¬ 
ter of our camera, or even breathe, we have 
brought into play one of the laws of chemistry. 

Only 83 Different Things 

Who would think that the earth and all the 
living things upon it, including ourselves, are 
made up of but eighty-three different things ? At 

3 


* 


BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


first blush, this may not sound reasonable. Many 
of us could sit down with a paper and pencil and 
name four or five hundred different things, with 
which we are acquainted. In the kitchen we can 
find tea, coffee, salt, pepper, flour, sugar, bran, 
cinnamon, mustard, and the like. Then, if we go 
into the drug-store we know that we can find 
thousands of different things that we could add to 
our list. If we show T ed our completed list to a 
chemist, however, in an effort to prove to him 
that there are more than eighty-three different 
things in the earth, he would laugh and say, “The 
things that you have named on your list are what 
are known in chemistry as compounds.” 

Wliat Is a Compound? 

But what is a compound? A compound is made 
up of two or more different elements. An el¬ 
ement is a basic thing, and when we said that the 
world and all living matter w r as composed of but 
eighty-three different things, we really meant 
eighty-tliree different elements. 

To better understand the meaning of the word 
“element,” let us assume that a chemist analyzes 
water. By analyzing we mean that the chemist 
is going to tear apart the water and show us what 


WHAT IS CHEMISTRY? 


5 


is in it. After putting the water through a 
certain process, the chemist will show us two 
stoppered bottles. One will he labeled ‘ 1 oxygen,’’ 
and the other will be labeled “hydrogen.’’ Both 
are invisible gases, yet the chemist will say to us, 
4 ‘There are the two gases of which the water is 
composed.” 


Gases Form Water 

But why didn’t the chemist break these two 
gases up and tell us what they were made of ? 
He simply could not. Try as he might, he would 
find it impossible to break oxygen up into any¬ 
thing but oxygen. The same would be true re¬ 
garding the invisible gas hydrogen. He could 
heat the oxygen, cool it, or compress it, but he 
would still have oxygen. Oxygen is an element. 
So is hydrogen. An element is a basic thing. 
By this we mean that it is “all by itself.” If we 
mix the water-colors blue and yellow we get the 
color green as a result. If we were to separate 
them again we should get blue and yellow back 
again, but we could not take the blue and yellow 
and divide them any further. In a way they 
would be like elements, but instead of the elements 
of chemistry they would be the elements of color. 




6 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


Table of Elements 


Aluminum . 

... A1 

Antimony . 

... Sb 

Argon . 

... A 

Arsenic . 

... As 

Barium ........ 


Bismuth . 

.... Bi 

Boron . 

... B 

Bromine . 

... Br 

Cadmium . 

... Cd 

Csesium . 

... Cs 

Calcium . 

.. Ca 

Carbon . 

... C 

Cerium . 

... Ce 

Chlorine . 

.... Cl 

Chromium . 

.... Cr 

Cobalt . 

...Co 

Columbium .... 

... Cb 

Copper . 

... Cu 

Dysprosium ... 

... Dy 

Erbium . 

... Er 

Europium . 

. . . Eu 

Fluorine . 

.... F 

Gadolinium . .. 

... Gd 

Gallium . 

... Ga 


^Germanium . Ge 

Glucinum . G1 

Gold. Au 

Helium . He 

Holmium . Ho 

Hydrogen . H 

Indium . In 

Iodine .I 

Iridium .... .Ir 

Iron . Fe 

Krypton .J£r 

Lanthanum. La 

Lead . Pb 

Lithium . Li 

Lutecium.Lu 

'Magnesium .Mg 

Manganese . Mn 

Mercury . Hg 

Molybdenum . Mo 

Neodymium .Nd 

Neon.Ne 

Nickel . Ni 

Niton . Nt 

Nitrogen . N 


















































WHAT IS CHEMISTRY? 


7 


Table of 


Osmium . Os 

Oxygen . 0 

Palladium. Pd 

Phosphorus . P 

Platinum . Pt 

Potassium . K 

Prasoedymium .... Pr 

Radium . .. Ra 

Rhodium . Rh 

Rubidium . Rb 

Ruthenium . Ru 

Samarium . Sa 

Scandium . Sc 

Selenium . Se 

Silicon . Si 

Silver . Ag 

Sodium . Na 

Strontium . Sr 


Elements 

Sulphur . . 

.s 

Tantalum . 

. Ta 

Tellurium , 


Terbium .. 

.' Tb 

Thallium . 

. T1 

Thorium .. 

. Th 

Thulium .. 


Tin . 


Titanium ., 

. Ti 

Tungsten . , 

. W 

Uranium . . 

. U 

Vanadium . 

. V 

Xenon .... 

. Xe 

Ytterbium 

(Neoytter- 

bium 

. YB 

Yttrium . .. 

. Y 

Zinc . 

.Zn 

Zirconium . 

. Zr 


If we will look on page 6 we will see a com¬ 
plete list of everything there is in the world. 
Just think of it! Nothing else exists outside of 
these fundamental things. 

But if we only have eighty-three different 




































8 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

things in the world, how can we account for the 
long list of chemicals that we find in the drug¬ 
store, and all of the things like tea, coffee, sugar, 
etc.! Where do all of these substances come 
from! Is this a hitch in our theory, or can the 
laws of chemistry account for them! The laws 
of chemistry surely can account for them. These 
substances are all compounds, and if we look in 
the dictionary we will find that the word “com¬ 
pound” refers to a substance that is made up of 
two or more different elements. Take w T ater, for 
instance. The chemist found that water was com¬ 
posed of the gases of hydrogen and oxygen. 
Therefore, water is a compound. Table-salt is 
made up of a pungent gas called chlorine and a 
dull, pinkish metal called sodium. Of course, 
not all compounds are made up of only tw T o ele¬ 
ments. Some have many more elements in them. 
Let us take chocolate, for example. We will find 
a number of different elements in this substance, 
and we should say that chocolate was a complex 
compound. 

Compound Family Numbers 500,000 
There are upward of five hundred thousand 
different compounds in the world and all of these 


WHAT IS CHEMISTRY? 9 

compounds are formed by only the eighty-tbree 
elements. This is indeed a very wonderful thing. 
We have more than five hundred thousand com¬ 
binations of only eighty-three different things. 
In some of the compounds we shall find the very 
same elements, yet the compounds will be dif¬ 
ferent in nature. For instance, we have many of 
the same things in chocolate that we have in kero¬ 
sene, but the properties and the arrangement 
are different. We may have two houses built of 
blue and red bricks. In the one house the blue 
bricks are arranged to form a certain design, and 
m the other house they will be arranged to form 
a different design. As a result, the houses look 
different, but they are all made up of the same 
bricks. 


What Chemistry Deals With 

We might say that chemistry deals largely with 
the properties of different substances and the 
changes which these substances undergo. By the 
property of a substance, we mean its physical 
and chemical characteristics. It may be light or 
heavy, hard or soft, green or blue, white or black, 
sour or sweet; it may be solid, liquid, or gaseous, 


10 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


metallic or non-metallic. Vinegar puckers our 
lips; therefore sourness and bitter taste axs prop¬ 
erties of vinegar. 

Chemical Changes 

If we take a match, strike it, and allow it to 
burn, we have, after it goes out, a black, charred 
mass that does not look at all like the nice clean 
piece of wood that we formerly had. The match 
has changed, and the chemist would tell us that 
it has changed chemically, or that the burning of 
the match brought about a chemical change. If 
we questioned the chemist further, he would tell 
us that a chemical change always results in a new 
substance or compound. We can mix salt and 
pepper together, but that does not give us a new 
compound. We simply have a mechanical mix¬ 
ture. We can mix water and vinegar together, 
but we do not have a new compound. The water 
is still there, and so is the vinegar. But in the 
case of the burning match we had something 
different. 

How Burning Gases Form Water 
If our chemist took the one bottle of the gas 
hydrogen and the bottle of the gas oxygen, which 


WHAT IS CHEMISTRY? 


11 


resulted from his analysis of water, and placed 
them together in a single bottle, they would 
“bum” when ignited with a match. Who would 
think that this burning process, or chemical action, 
as we call it, would result in producing water? 
Yet that is exactly what happens. When hydro¬ 
gen and oxygen combine chemically water is pro¬ 
duced. 

When two or more substances combine in a 
chemical way, there is always a new substance 
formed with different properties, usually with 
different appearance and different general char¬ 
acter. As we said before, table-salt is made up 
of a soft metal and a heavy gas. Neither one 
of these elements looks like salt in any way. 
Neither do the gases hydrogen and oxygen in 
their free state bear any resemblance to water. 

What happens when water freezes? Has a 
chemical change taken place? No, it has not, be¬ 
cause the ice, with the exception of being solid, 
has all the properties of water. It tastes the 
same, and in general it acts the same. For this 
reason, the chemists call this kind of a change a 
physical change. If we ground sugar up into a 
very fine powder we should still have sugar. It 
would taste just as sweet and produce the same 


12 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


general result; therefore, we should call this a 

physical change. 

It has been said that the king and all his sol¬ 
diers and horses could not destroy a single pin¬ 
head. That is very true. Chemistry teaches us 
that nothing can he destroyed. What happens 
when we burn a candle? Does not the candle 
disappear? It does. But if we could gather the 
various gases and the smoke that the candle pro¬ 
duces while burning, we should find that they had 
a weight that was equivalent to the candle itself 
when it was new. It would seem that the Master 
of All Things has so fixed the laws of the universe 
that we can neither create nor destroy matter. 


CHAPTER II 


THE LITTLE BRICKS OF MATTER 

If we could take a tiny grain of salt and begin 
dividing it into smaller pieces, we should have to 
do this many millions of times before we should 
come to the last little bricks from which the tiny 
grain of salt was builded. This little brick 
would be called a molecule. In the tiniest speck 
of matter there are millions upon millions of these 
molecules. Of course, not all molecules are the 
same, just as not all bricks used for house build¬ 
ing are the same. The molecule, or brick, of salt 
is not like the molecule of water or sugar. Mole¬ 
cules differ in size and in their properties. A 
molecule of sugar could not be any other kind of 
a molecule. 

Smaller Bricks Called Atoms 
“Of what are molecules made?” we shall ask if 
we are at all inquisitive. Are they made of still 
smaller bricks? They are, and these smaller 
bricks are called atoms. If the molecules are so 

13 



14 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


small that they are beyond the range of human 
vision, how small must these atoms be? Sir 
Oliver Lodge once said that ‘ 1 There are as many 
atoms in a glass of water as there are glasses of 
water in the Atlantic Ocean. ’ ’ 

Do atoms and molecules differ only in size? 
They differ in nature, also. In general, we might 
say that atoms are the little bricks that build up 
the elements, and that molecules build up the com¬ 
pounds. There are always two or more atoms in 
a molecule. 

How Atoms Join Partnership 

When salt is formed by the combination of the 
gas chlorine and the metal sodium, millions upon 
millions of tiny chlorine atoms find as their part¬ 
ners the same number of sodium atoms. Thus, in 
each molecule of salt we find a chlorine atom and 
a sodium atom happily united. When two atoms 
unite to form a new molecule a chemical change 
always takes place. 

Chemical Shorthand 

If we glance back at our list of elements we 
shall find written beside each element one or more 
letters. For instance, next to sodium we find the 



THE LITTLE BRICKS OF MATTER 15 


letters Na; next to hydrogen, H; oxygen, 0; and 
carbon, C. These are called symbols, and they 
form the basis of a shorthand system which the 
chemist uses in showing how the different el¬ 
ements and compounds behave when they are 
brought together. These symbols are always 
used, for they make it possible for the chemist 
to write down the way in which chemicals unite 
and separate without writing out the name each 
time. Everything that happens in chemistry may 
be shown with these symbols. Let us use as an 
example the chemical action that takes place when 
the gases hydrogen and oxygen are burned to pro¬ 
duce water. The chemist would put this forma¬ 
tion down in the following way: 2H + O = H 2 0. 
This is much more simple than writing it out in 
this way: Two atoms of hydrogen + one atom 
of oxygen — water. The 2 before the H means 
that there are two atoms of hy¬ 
drogen for every atom of oxy¬ 
gen. Then there are three 
atoms in the molecule of water. 

A crude picture of this arrange¬ 
ment is shown in Figure 1. There is not an action 
taking place in chemistry that cannot be written 
down on paper with the aid of the chemical sym¬ 
bols. 



16 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OP CHEMISTRY 


Chemist Classifies His Compounds 

The chemist classifies his compounds according 
to the elements that go to make them up. We 
have heard the words, 4 ‘chlorides,” “oxides,” 
“hydrocarbons,” etc. Salt is referred to by the 
chemist as a chloride because it contains the gas 
chlorine. An oxide is a compound that contains 
oxygen. Let us not think, however, that every 
compound that contains oxygen is an oxide. 

As we go into the study of chemistry we shall 
be amazed at the precision with which chemical 
actions take place. Two elements combining 
under the same conditions will always produce 
exactly the same results, and they always combine 
in definite proportions. When copper burns in 
oxygen, forming what is known as copper oxide, 
there is always exactly the same proportion by 
weight of oxygen and copper. The compound, 
if analyzed, will be found to contain exactly 79.96 
per cent copper, and the remainder will be oxygen. 

Building Up and Tearing Down 

We can do two things in chemistry: build 
up and tear down. We can cause two gases to 
unite to form water, and we can tear them apart 
just as easily. In the first case we should have 


THE LITTLE BRICKS OF MATTER 17 


the chemical action of combination and in the 
second place that of decomposition. There is 
still another kind of action called that of substitu¬ 
tion, where one element substitutes itself for 
another. 

Solutions also play a very important part in 
chemistry. A solution is produced when we dis¬ 
solve a solid into a liquid or when we mix two liq¬ 
uids. If we dissolve sugar into water we have a 
solution of sugar. It will taste sweet and do 
virtually all of the things that sugar will do. 
When a substance is capable of being dissolved 
into a solution, we say that it is soluble. Dif¬ 
ferent substances have different degrees of sol¬ 
ubility; and some substances are so stubborn in 
this respect that they will not dissolve at all, and 
we say that they are insoluble. 

With these few simple facts in mind, we are 
ready to start our experiments in chemistry. In 
making these experiments, however, we must fol¬ 
low directions carefully. 




CHAPTER in 

BIGGIN® UP THE CHEMICAL LABORATORY 

The first thing the ambitious amateur chemist 
must do is to set about rigging up his laboratory. 
The laboratory is really the chemist’s workshop. 
It is here that he carries on his experiments in 
chemical science just as the carpenter and the 
mechanic carry on work in their shops. 

A suitable spot must be found for the lab¬ 
oratory. This is the first consideration. A spare 
room makes an ideal location, but few homes have 
spare rooms. The attic is a good place in spring 
and autumn, but it is a little hot in summer and 
too cool in winter unless it is heated. The attic 
has the advantage of being light and airy, which 
is important. If a few square feet of composi¬ 
tion-board are used a little room can be parti¬ 
tioned off in one corner of the attic for the lab¬ 
oratory. 

Although the cellar is cool in summer and fairly 

warm in winter, if is not a good place to work. 

Electric lights are usually necessary, and constant 

18 




RIGGING CHEMICAL LABORATORY 19 


exposure to dampness is likely to bring on early 
attacks of rheumatism. 

The little laboratory we have planned can be 
furnished with equipment at a surprisingly small 
cost, since most of the devices and apparatus used 
can be made at home with household tools. 

A bench, table, or an old commode must be ob¬ 
tained to work upon. Of the three of these, a com¬ 
mode is probably the best, since it has drawers 
for the storage of rubber tubing, glass tubing, 
corks, etc. The top of the table or commode 
should be covered with a piece of white oil-cloth. 
This can be wiped off easily and kept clean and 
wholesome. 

Directly above the commode or table four 
shelves are hung. These are used to accommo¬ 
date the various chemicals that make up the 
supplies of the laboratory. A few half-inch pine 
boards about eight inches wide may be used to 
make the shelves. 

The arrangement of the commode and shelves 
is shown in Figure 2. 

Making a Bing-Stand 

Figure 3 illustrates a home-made ring-stand. A 
ring-stand is merely a device to hold dishes while 
they are being heated over a flame. A half-inch 


20 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


wooden base about six inches square is used. 
A small hole is bored in the center of one end, 
and a heavy, straight piece of wire about ten 


0- ——1 

f 

,. • 

. * 

1 



J—— 


, . • 



inches long is forced into this hole. The hole 
should be just a little smaller than the wire so 
that a snug fit will be made. Another piece of 
wire, a little smaller than the piece just described, 
is bent into a circle. This circle should be about 
three inches in diameter, and enough wire should 
be used so that there will be four or five inches 
more than is needed to complete the circle. The 

















































RIGGING CHEMICAL LABORATORY 21 



MET/>.L rod 


£N BASE 


surplus wire is wound 
around the heavy wire 
in the wooden base. 

The circle should be ad¬ 
justed to a height of 
about seven inches on 
the upright wire. 

We must now learn 
how to use this piece of 
apparatus. Let us as¬ 
sume that we have a 
liquid we wish to heat. 

The liquid is placed in 
a small dish, and the 
dish is set on the wire ( 
ring. The Bunsen or 
alcohol burner is then 
placed on the wooden base, so that the flame will 

come in contact with the dish. 

Another little heating-stand 
for general purposes is 
shown in Figure 4. This is 
assembled with heavy wire. 
First, a triangle with sides 
about four inches in length 
is bent into shape. Three 
pieces of wire of the same 



Fig. 3 






















22 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


length are then cut off. These are held to the 
triangle by bending their ends around the corners 
of the triangle. 

This little stand is used for heating purposes 
also, and, because of its triangular shape, it will 
accommodate a dish of almost any size or shape. 

No chemical laboratory is complete without a 
test-tube-holder similar to the one illustrated in 
Figure 5. It is the test-tube-holder that helps to 
make the laboratory look really scientific and 



businesslike. Two half-inch boards about two 
inches wide and ten inches long are cut. These 
are dressed up nicely and sandpapered smooth. 
Two small end blocks of the same width and 
three inches long are then produced. Before the 
holder is assembled, five three-quarter-inch holes 
are bored through one of the large boards. This 
boring should be done in a vise to prevent the 
wood from splitting. The test-tube-holder may 




















RIGGING CHEMICAL LABORATORY 23 


now be assembled. The four pieces are nailed 
together, and shellac may be applied when this 
work is finished. 

The amateur chemist will find it necessary to 
purchase a few of his things at the local 
drug store. He should buy six test-tubes. 

A test-tube is shown in Figure 6. This is 
eight inches long and one half inch in di¬ 
ameter. The chemist uses test-tubes to 
mix his chemicals and to carry out many of 
his chemical reactions. We shall learn 
more about chemical reactions in later 
chapters of this book. 

Em. 6 

Collecting Bottles 

Now we come to the matter of bottles. The 
chemical laboratory needs bottles, bottles, and 
so it will be necessary for the young chemist 
to begin collecting bottles immediately. These 
he should wash out carefully with hot water 
and see that they are clean in every respect. 
They should be provided with corks, since all 
chemicals must be kept well corked. If this is 
not done, the liquids will evaporate, and the 
laboratory will have a bad odor. A good type of 
bottle is illustrated in Figure 7. Of course it 
wifi not be possible to obtain all bottles of this 




24 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


size and shape. A few wide-mouthed bottles 
should be provided, however, even if they have to 

be purchased at the drug-store. 
The more bottles about a labora¬ 
tory the better. Every chemical 
must have its separate bottle, and 
there should also be a good reserve 
supply on hand for new chemicals 
fig 7 produced and for general experi¬ 
mental purposes. 

The writer wishes to warn the amateur chemist 
at this point. When a chemical is placed in a 
bottle, a label should immediately be placed on 
that bottle telling just what is in it. If it is 
sodium nitrate or charcoal it should be so 
marked. A good chemist never relies on his 
memory. Many chemicals are very similar in 
appearance, and oftentimes the use of the wrong 
chemicals proves disastrous. Never leave a 
chemical around the laboratory without putting 
a label on the bottle telling just what is in it. 

The Bunsen Burner 

Now comes up the question of heating things. 
If there is a gas supply in the house, a small 
Bunsen burner may be used. A Bunsen burner 
will be seen in Figure 8. The Bunsen burner is 






RIGGING CHEMICAL LABORATORY 25 


a special gas burner which is used only in chem¬ 
ical laboratories. It was designed by the great 
German chemist Bunsen. This burner 

f— 

may be purchased at chemical supply 
houses for a few cents, and it gener¬ 
ates a great amount of heat without 
any smoke or odor. 

If the house is not piped for gas, 
a little alcohol burner must be used. 

Such a little burner can easily be 
made from an old ink-bottle as shown 
in Figure 9. A hole is bored through 
the cork, and a small length of brass tubing is 
placed in this hole. A good snug fit should be 
produced so that none of the alcohol will leak out. 
A piece of flannel cloth is now rolled up into a 
wick and placed in the piece of tubing. The 
cloth should be long enough to extend to the bot¬ 
tom of the bottle. The bottle is now filled with 
wood-alcohol, and when the wick is lit a hot, 
steady flame will be produced. 

If we wish to heat a test-tube 
full of liquid over a Bunsen or 
alcohol flame, we must have 
something with which to hold the 
tube, since it becomes very hot. 
A little piece of spring-metal, cut 




Fig. 9 











26 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

and bent in the shape shown in Figure 10, will 
serve this purpose very well. The test-tube is 

held tightly between the 
free ends. It should be 
dried on the outside before 
it is heated. 

Old jars with screw-tops 


SPAING METAL 



Fig. 10 






Sulphur 


that have contained salve or 
face-cream will come in very 
handy to hold powders in the 
laboratory. This type of jar 
is showm in Figure 11. The 
young chemist should keep his eyes open for jars 
of this type. 


Fig. 11 


The Chemicals We Need 

We are now ready to equip our laboratory with 
chemicals. This will mean a trip to the local 
drug-store, since all the chemicals mentioned in 
the following list can be purchased there. A lack 
of pocket-money may make it .impossible to pur¬ 
chase the entire list during one call, but if this is 
the case a few may be purchased at a time until 
the entire list is in stock. Special chemicals not 
mentioned in this list will have to be purchased 
from time to time. 
















Courtesy “Science and Invention’’ 

Heating a test-tube over a Bunsen burner 


Courtesy “Science and Invention’’ 

The voung chemist discovers that sulphuric acid carbonizes paper 






















■ 




* 
























■ 







































, 
















RIGGING CHEMICAL LABORATORY 27 


Amount 
y 2 ounce 


2 “ 
4 “ 

% “ 
4 “ 

1 “ 

% “ 
1 “ 

2 “ 
1 “ 

% 411 

2 “ 

2 “ 
2 “ 
2 “ 
1 “ 
1 “ 


2 “ 

4 “ 

1 “ 

9 << 


Name of Chemical 

iodine (sublimated crystals) X 
sodium hydroxide solution, (concen¬ 
trated) y 
ferrous sulphate 
ferrous sulphide 
red phosphorus 
potassium chlorate 
potassium bichromate 
potassium iodide 
potassium bromide 
potassium nitrate 
potassium permanganate 
cupric oxide \ 
cupric sulphate crystals 
iron tilings, (tine) 

sodium nitrate (concentrated solution) 

sodium sulphate 

anhydrous sodium sulphate 

zinc sulphate 

granulated zinc 

sodium chloride 

fluorspar 

roll of sulphur 

lead nitrate (concentrated solution) 
ammonium chloride 


28 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


2 ounce mercury 
4 “ copper foil 

1 “ Glauber’s salts 

8 “ manganese dioxide (powdered) 

2 “ carbon disulphide (concentrated solu¬ 

tion) 

4 “ starch 

1 “ silver nitrate (concentrated solution) 

4 “ animal charcoal 


Beakers 

The beaker shown in Figure 12 is a most im¬ 
portant and useful laboratory utensil. Three 
beakers ranging in capacity from 50 to 150 cubic 
centimeters will be found sufficient for a start. 
These need not cost more than fifteen cents 
apiece, and the investment will be well made. 
We shall notice by referring to the sketch that 

the beaker has a lip, which 
makes it convenient to pour 
liquids. 

It goes without saying that 
we must have a funnel. We 
cannot, however, use the or¬ 
dinary type of tin funnel em¬ 
ployed about the household. We must have a 
funnel that will not be attacked by corrosive 



Fig. 12 





RIGGING CHEMICAL LABORATORY 29 


acids. Therefore it is necessary to employ a 
small glass funnel, and every laboratory supply 
house can furnish us with a funnel of this sort 
for a few pennies. 

While speaking of funnels it will be well for us 
to consider the matter of filtration. The amateur 
chemist will often find it necessary to filter 
various solutions, and this is done by allowing the 
solution to pass through a very porous paper 
known as filter-paper. Ordinary paper cannot 
be used because it is not chemically pure. The 
filter-paper is especially prepared for this pur¬ 
pose, and it will not in any w T ay contaminate the 
liquid passing through it. Filter-paper comes in 
little circular sheets of a hundred to the box, 
which may be had at little cost. 

Filtering 

A momenta reference to Figure 13 will show 
us how to use the circular sheets. We first fold 
the paper twice according to the dotted lines. 
Then we insert the paper into the funnel, where it 
will take on a conical shape. The solution is then 
poured into the funnel and paper cone, where it 
will gradually drip out into the flask or beaker 
below. In doing this we must take care not to 


30 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


put too much of the liquid in the funnel, since it 
will flow over the top of the filter-paper. 


j 




Fig. 13 


If a murky solution, full of sediment, is poured 
into the funnel, the filtered solution will be found 
to be clear, and the sediment will be left behind 
in the filter-paper. Chemists use filter-paper for 
two different purposes: sometimes they merely 
wish to free a solution of sediment; other times 
they wish to use the sediment, and this is the 
means they employ to capture it. 

How to Measure Chemicals 

A housewife carefully measures out the ingre¬ 
dients of her pies, cakes, and puddings; and so 
must the amateur chemist carefully measure out 
the various acids and solutions that he uses in his 
















RIGGING CHEMICAL LABORATORY 31 


«c* 3 
CC -s- 
4r 


experiments. The chemist, however, does not 
take quarts, pints, and gills in measuring his 
liquids, but rather the cubic centimeter or the 
liter. A cubic centimeter is a very small amount 
of liquid. It really amounts to about 
one sixteenth of a cubic inch. It takes 
one thousand cubic centimeters to make 
a liter, and one liter is just a trifle more 
than a quart. 

YvTiat is known as a graduated cylin¬ 
der is illustrated in Figure 14. This 
cylinder has etched in its side numerous 
little lines, and each one of these little 
lines represents a cubic centimeter. 

When the cylinder is full, we have one 
hundred cubic centimeters. 

What is known as the Florence flask 
is shown in Figure 15. The Florence flask is so 
named because flasks of this type were first made 
in the city of Florence, Italy. They will be found 
very convenient for many purposes. 
A flask with a capacity of 300 c.c. 
(“c.c.” will hereafter be used as 
the abbreviation of cubic centimeter; 
Chemists always use this abbrevia- 
Fig. 15 tion) will be found sufficient. 


JL 

"9 

S? 



Fig. 14 








32 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


The Mortar and Pestle 

The mortar and pestle are one of the oldest of 
chemical devices. In fact, it has always been 
more or less the emblem of chemistry. To make 
our laboratory complete we must have a mortar 
and pestle, which we shall see pictured in Figure 
16. These two simple things really form a 
miniature grinding-mill, so that when we wish to 
reduce a lumpy substance to a fine powder we 
put it in the mortar and crush it with the pestle. 

While pressing down on the 
pestle, we give it a circular 
motion, at the same time pro¬ 
ducing a grinding action. If 
this process is continued long 
enough with even the most 
stubborn kind of lumpy material, we shall even¬ 
tually have a fine powder in the bottom of the 
mortar. 

Glass Tubing and Hoiv to Handle It 

We must not forget glass tubing. Fortunately 
we can usually find a supply of this at the corner 
drug-store. We should really have two sizes in 
stock. The diameter should be three sixteenths 




RIGGING CHEMICAL LABORATORY 8S 


RUBBER S 
TUBING 



TUBING 

Fig. 17 


of an inch. To be used with the glass tubing 
there should be a few short lengths of rubber 

tubing, and a glance at Figure 17 
will show us how the rubber tubing 
is employed in different ways to 
make flexible joints. Glass tubes 
should be moistened or greased be¬ 
fore they are inserted into rubber 
tubing or corks. The chemist is constantly find¬ 
ing it necessary to set up special apparatus for 
his experiments, and in doing this he must know 
how to handle tubing and other glass articles. 
First we must learn how to break the tubing, and 
for this purpose we shall need an old three-cor¬ 
nered file. A little nick is filed in the tubing at 
the point where we wish it to break. Then the 
tubing is grasped in the two hands as shown in 
Fig. 18 and the ends of the thumbs placed one 
on each side of the nick. 

A quick bending of the 
hands will snap the tub¬ 
ing at the very point 
where we want it to break. 

It is oftentimes necessary to bend a piece of 
tubing, and to do this it will first be necessary 
to heat it in the flame of the Bunsen burner or the 



Fig. 18 







34 BOYS’ PLAYBQOK OF CHEMISTRY 

special little burner that was previously de¬ 
scribed. We place the tube in the yellow part of 
the flame and revolve it slowly with the fingers so 
that the heat is evenly distributed. When the 
tube becomes heated to the point where it begins 
to bend of its own weight we must remove it from 
the flame and bend it at the desired radius. In 
doing this we must take care not to bend 
it with a jerk, as the tube will surely kink. 
The tubing, until it cools, must not be left on the 
oil-cloth table-top, and the fingers must not be 
allowed to touch it. To obtain a graceful curve, 
bend the tubing gently yet with sufficient speed to 
accomplish the operation before the tube 
becomes chilled. 

In buying our supplies we must not for¬ 
get to include the little test-tube-brush 
shown in Figure 19. The test-tube-brush 
is used a great deal by the careful chemist, 
because it helps him to keep his tubes clean, 
and he knows this to be important. Strict 
cleanliness in chemistry is absolutely es¬ 
sential. Every time a test-tube, beaker, 
or flask is used it should be carefully 
washed out with soap and water, rinsed, 
Fig. 19 and put away to dry. 








RIGGING CHEMICAL LABORATORY 


How to Make a Chemical Balance 

A small chemical scale, or balance, as it is often 
called, should be included in the laboratory. But 
all of us do not have sufficient funds to purchase 
a ready-made instrument. There is a certain 



amount of fun in making a balance, and in Figure 
20 we shall see how easily one can be assembled 
from little scraps of junk that we find about the 
house. 

Figure 20 shows the general arrangement. A 
clean, dry piece of wood, about one half or three 
quarters of an inch thick, is selected for the base. 
































36 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


The two standards should be about half an inch 
thick and mortised into the base one inch apart. 
Carpenters glue will help to hold them in 
position. The beam, the details of which are 
illustrated in Figure 21, is made of a piece of one- 
half-inch to three-sixteenths-inch standard brass 
rod. First the holes A, B, and C are drilled so 
that there will be a driving fit for one-inch nails. 
The hole A should be as near the exact center of 
the rod as it is possible to make it; and the holes 



B and C should be exactly the same distance from 
the hole A. The head of a one-inch nail is filed 
off and each end brought to a sharp point, the 
nail then being brought to a red heat while held 
with tongs or at the end of a piece of wire, and 
plunged into cold water to harden it. It should 
now be cleaned and forced into the hole A, a 
touch of solder being used to secure it if at all 
loose. One-inch nails, the heads of which have 
been filed off, may also be forced into holes 



RIGGING CHEMICAL LABORATORY 37 



c:: 


t-Wire Loop. 
Fig. 22 




B and C. A small hole should he drilled 
lengthwise in each end of the beam and then 
tapped. In each hole a stud, fitted with a round 
or hexagon nut, should be screwed, as shown at 
Figure 22. A one-sixteenth-inch hole should be 

drilled over hole A and 
at right angles to it, and 
the pointer, a piece of 
one-sixteenth-inch brass 
rod, soldered in such a 
position that the bent 
part will easily pass over the top of the standard, 
and also clear one of the pivot-screws, as in Fig¬ 
ure 23. 

The points of the nail that passes through hole 
A work in conical hollows drilled in the flattened 
points of two wood screws. The point of each 
screw is filed off and the hollow made with a small 
drill. One of the screws is fixed in each standard 
and the beam balanced between the two, as in¬ 
dicated in Figure 21. By tightening or loosening 
either screw slightly a fine adjustment may be 
obtained. 

Two wire loops should be made and fitted on 
the nails at B and C, as shown in Figure 22. 

Each pan is suspended from its wfire loop by 
silk threads. One pan is a tin lid, the other an 















38 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


Pointer' Rod 


Wooden 

•Standard 



Fig. 23 


ordinary watch-glass such as is used by jewelers 
to cover small pieces of mechanism. Any jeweler 
will drill the four holes in the watch-glass for a 

few cents. A small 
cardboard scale may 
be glued to the 
standard over which 
the end of the point¬ 
er passes. The cen¬ 
ter of the scale 
should be marked 
with a red line so as to distinguish it easily. 
The balance will be properly adjusted when the 
pointer is over this line. 

To adjust the balance the nuts at the ends of 
the beam should be screwed farther from the 
center or nearer to it. By screwing the left- 
hand screw farther from the center, or the right- 
hand screw nearer to it, the pointer will tend to 
move to the right. By screwing them in the 
opposite directions the tendency of movement in 
the pointer will be to the left. 

The weight should be placed in the tin lid, and 
the chemical to be weighed in the glass. It is 
sometimes difficult to obtain suitable weights, but 
if we send to one of the chemical supply houses 
we may purchase a set for a small amount. 















CHAPTER IV 


EXPERIMENTING WITH TWO IMPORTANT GASES 

There are two very important gases in chem¬ 
istry that every amateur chemist should experi¬ 
ment with and understand. These gases are 
called hydrogen and oxygen. 

Oxygen was discovered back in the year 1774 
by an English chemist named Priestly. That 
happened in the early history of chemistry when 
but few of the elements that we recognize to-day 
were known. Oxygen is present in great quanti¬ 
ties on the earth, since it not only forms part of 
water but it is also present in the air. In fact, 
oxygen is th§ life-giving gas that we breathe. 
Without it no life could exist. It produces the 
heat within our bodies and “ oxidizes ” the worn- 
out tissues. 

Oxygen—Chemical Busybody 

Oxygen is a chemical busybody. It is always 
at work, and for this reason chemists call it a 

very “active” element. It is able to combine 

39 


40 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


with most of the other elements, and it is present 
in many thousand different compounds. When it 
comes in contact with many of the elements, it 
immediately begins to combine with them, and an 
“oxide” is formed. An oxide is produced when 
oxygen associates itself with another element. 
For instance, we have the oxides of iron, copper, 
aluminum, mercury, tin, and zinc. When iron or 
zinc combines with oxygen, we call the resulting 
combination iron oxide or zinc oxide as the case 
may be. It is only when oxygen combines with a 
single other element that the resulting compound 
is called an oxide. Potassium chlorate contains 
oxygen, but the compound is not called an 
oxide. 


Horn Oxygen Is Produced 

Oxygen is a very interesting gas to experiment 
with, and we may consider ourselves fortunate 
that it can be produced in the laboratory with little 
trouble. To produce oxygen we must have a little 
potassium chlorate and a small amount of man¬ 
ganese dioxide. We are going to take the oxygen 
away from the potassium chlorate. To do this 
we must set up the apparatus shown in Figure 24. 
The potassium chlorate and the manganese di¬ 
oxide are mixed together and placed in the test- 


EXPERIMENTING WITH GASES 41 

tube. About two teaspoonfuls of the potassium 
chlorate should be used. This should be placed 
with about one third of a teaspoonful of the man¬ 
ganese dioxide. When the compounds are mixed 



together they should be ground in a mortar be¬ 
fore they are placed in the test-tube. 

We shall have to collect this gas over water, and 
to do this it will be necessary to place a wide¬ 
mouthed bottle tilled with water as shown in the 
drawing. As the gas passes from the test-tube, 
it will flow through the rubber tube and then 
bubble through the water and pass into the bot¬ 
tle. The water merely seals the bottle and pre¬ 
vents the gas from escaping. W 7 e want to save 
the gas because we are going to experiment with 
it later. 

Now that the apparatus is all set up, we are 















42 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


ready to generate the gas. To do this we need 
only apply heat to the test-tnbe. This is done 
with the little alcohol or Bunsen-burner. When 
heat is applied, we shall notice that bubbles pass 
from the end of the rubber tube through the water 
and into the bottle. This is oxygen. We cannot 
see it because it has no color when it is in the gas¬ 
eous form. Neither does it have taste or odor. 
We shall continue to apply heat until we notice 
that the bubbles cease to form. This will mean 
that no more oxygen can be taken out of the potas¬ 
sium chlorate. When we started out, the potas¬ 
sium chlorate in the test tube had the chemical 
expression of KC10 3 . This meant that it was 
made up of the elements potassium, chlorine, and 
oxygen. After the heat is applied and the oxygen 
leaves the compound, it is recognized by the ex¬ 
pression KC1. Its name also changes. Instead 
of being called potassium chlorate it is called 
potassium chloride. Thus it will be seen that 
there is a great deal of difference between chlo¬ 
rate and chloride. 

Mn0 2 Lends a Helping Hand 

The curious experimenter will wonder what the 
manganese dioxide has to do with the generation 
of the oxygen. Upon examining the mixture left 


EXPERIMENTING WITH GASES 43 

in the tube we find that the manganese dioxide 
remained unchanged. When used in this way the 
manganese dioxide is called a “ catalytic agent.” 
The term does not need to frighten us since it 
has a simple meaning. A catalytic agent is a 
substance, which, by its mere presence, is able 
to hasten a chemical reaction or decomposition 
without itself being changed in the least. If we 
had not added the manganese dioxide to the 
potassium chlorate in the tube, the oxygen would 
not have been generated without the application 
of more heat, and, furthermore, it would not have 
been produced so rapidly. We must keep in mind 
the fact that manganese dioxide, or catalytic 
agents in general, will not hasten all chemical 
reactions. They only “work” in certain cases. 

Burning an Iron Nail 

We are now ready to experiment with our bot¬ 
tle of oxygen. In lifting the bottle from the wa¬ 
ter we must place a small piece of window-glass 
over the mouth to prevent the gas from escaping. 
Let us first place a small iron nail on the end of a 
long piece of wire and heat it in a flame until it is 
red-hot. If the nail is placed in the bottle of ox¬ 
ygen while it is red, it will actually burn when it 
comes in contact with the active gas. Great heat 


44 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


will be generated, and tiny little sparks will 
shower from the nail. This is rapid oxidation, or, 
as it is called in every-day life, combustion. 
When combustion takes place we often say a sub¬ 
stance is ‘ ‘ burning, ’ ’ but we see now that burning 
is really oxidation. 

“Slow Burning " 

Many things burn very slowly, so slowly indeed 
that they do not even become hot. This is called 
slow combustion, or slow oxidation. Rusting iron 
is a good example of this. When iron “rusts ’ 1 
it simply oxidizes, and a new product, iron oxide, 
is formed. Had we been able to burn all the nail 
in the bottle we should have found in its place a 
red powder that greatly resembled rust. 

A Trick with Sulphur 

Let us place a little sulphur in an old long- 
handled mustard-spoon and heat it over the open 
flame of the burner. It will bum with a pale-blue 
flame. While the sulphur is burning let us 
place the spoon in the bottle of oxygen. When 
this is done the sulphur will burn with a much 
brighter flame. This is because it is in contact 
with pure oxygen, while the oxygen in the air is 
mixed with other gases. If we exhaust our supply 



EXPERIMENTING WITH GASES 


45 


of oxygen, we must remember that more may be 
produced in the same manner. 

A “Sparkler” from a Watch-Spring 

For the next experiment we must find an old 
watch-spring. A piece of this is broken off and a 
small lump of sulphur is attached to the end of it. 

If the sulphur is held in the flame 
of the burner it will light. While 
the sulphur is burning, the end of 
the spring is placed into the bottle 
of oxygen. This we will picture 
in Figure 25. We shall be sur¬ 
prised to see the spring and the 
sulphur burst into a dazzling flame 
that will almost have the brilliancy 
of an arc-light. 

Speeding Up Burning 

Oxygen is very eager to combine with some of 
the elements, and in our next experiment we will 
see how willing it is to make a friend of aluminum. 
For this experiment we shall need some aluminum 
dust. The aluminum dust that comes with the 
“silvering” outfits that are sold in the hardware- 
stores will do nicely. The powder comes in a 





46 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


small paper envelope. It is mixed with an equal 
amount of iron or ferric oxide, which is a reddish- 
brown powder that we should have in stock. This 
mixture is placed in half of a dry egg-shell. This 
is sketched in Figure 26. It will be seen that a 
small piece of magnesium ribbon is placed into 
the mixture. This is used to start the reaction. 
The ribbon may be purchased in small quan¬ 
tities at chemical supply houses. This reaction 
is one of the most vigorous known to the science 
of chemistry, and to start it we must apply a 
match to the free end of the ribbon until it is 

ignited and begins to burn 
with a blue flame. When 
this happens we must move 
to a safe distance from the 
egg-shell. At the moment 
the flame of the burning 
magnesium ribbon reaches 
the top of the mixture there mil be a little puff, 
and in a few seconds the egg-shell will become a 
dazzling white mass with tiny sparks flying from 
it in all directions. A terrific heat will be gen¬ 
erated, and for this reason it is best to try this 
experiment out of doors. 

Now that we have tried this experiment we shall 


Fc O 3 ANO Al 


MAGNESIUM 
•?I60ON 



Fig. 26 




EXPERIMENTING WITH GASES 47 

be interested in knowing what caused the great 
heat and what happened in the egg-shell. Chem¬ 
ists tell ns that aluminum has a greater “affinity” 
for oxygen than iron has. In other words, ox¬ 
ygen would much rather associate itself with al¬ 
uminum than with iron. We remember that we 
brought aluminum powder and iron oxide to¬ 
gether. At ordinary room temperatures these 
two substances may be brought together safely, 
but when the temperature is raised beyond a 
certain point the oxygen in the iron oxide will 
part company with the iron and go over to the al¬ 
uminum, forming aluminum oxide and leaving the 
iron “friendless.” The heat of the burning 
magnesium ribbon is really needed as a “boost.” 
When the iron and the aluminum begin to react 
with each other, the temperature rises rapidly to 
a very high point. So high, in fact, that the iron 
is left as a molten mass. 

Hydrogen 

Hydrogen is an interesting gas to experiment 
with, and it can be generated just as easily as ox¬ 
ygen. We must be more careful in handling it, 
however, since it is very apt to cause an explosion. 
Small quantities of it will not cause serious explo- 


48 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


sions, but there is always danger in flying pieces 
of broken glass, and the prospect of such an ac¬ 
cident should make us cautious. 

Making Hydrogen 

To generate hydrogen, a small amount of hydro¬ 
chloric acid and a small amount of granulated 
zinc will be needed. The alert experimenter will 
immediately surmise that we are going to take the 
hydrogen from the hydrochloric acid. That is 
just what is going to be done. Hydrochloric acid 
is a chemical combination of the gases hydrogen 
and chlorine, and we are going to break up this 
combination and help ourselves, so to speak, to 
the hydrogen. In using the hydrochloric acid, 
care must be taken to see that none of it gets on 
the hands, since it will attack the flesh and pro¬ 
duce an uncomfortable burn. 

Figure 27 shows the apparatus that we are go¬ 
ing to use in the preparation of the gas. The 
Florence flask is provided with a large, tight-fit¬ 
ting cork. Two holes are made in the cork to ac¬ 
commodate a funnel and a glass delivery-tube, 
through which the gas passes out of the bottle. 
Another length of tubing is attached to the end 
of the funnel with a short length of rubber tub¬ 
ing. This piece of glass tubing should be long 


49 


EXPERIMENTING WITH GASES 

enough so that its 
end will extend below 
the surface of the 
acid solution in the 
bottle. This is im¬ 
portant and must he zmcaOo 

J . 7 *m>ROCHLO/?iC 

done to avoid: an ex- ^ 
plosion. Before the 
glass tubing and fun¬ 
nel are put in place, a little vaseline should be 
smeared on them. This will help to produce an 
air-tight joint. Before the top is finally put in 
place, the granulated zinc (about six or seven 
tablespoonfuls) should be put in the bottom of the 
bottle. When the cork is put in place molten 
paraffin should be placed over it to insure a per¬ 
fectly air-tight container. W 7 e must take great 
pains to do this, keeping in mind that a mixture of 
air and hydrogen is highly explosive. As a final 
precaution, it is well to wrap the hydrogen gen¬ 
erator in a towel to prevent pieces of glass from 
flying about in case of an accident. 

Everything is now ready for the production of 
the gas. First, we must pour a little water into 
the generator through the funnel. The water- 
level should come a little above the end of the 
glass tube that was attached to the end of the fun- 









50 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


nel. After the water is poured into the bottle, 
about a 100 c.c. of hydrochloric acid should be 
poured in through the funnel. When the acid 
reaches the scene a lively action is set up If we 
watch closely, we shall see thousands of little bub¬ 
bles leaving the zinc and rushing to the surface of 
the solution. The zinc will also change in color: 
it will lose its pretty silvery luster and become 
dark and unattractive. The little bubbles rush¬ 
ing to the surface are bubbles of the gas hydro¬ 
gen. Hydrogen, like oxygen, is an invisible, col¬ 
orless, odorless, and tasteless gas. We shall be¬ 
come more interested in hydrogen when we learn 
that it is the lightest substance in the world. 
Nothing weighs less than hydrogen. A whole 
cubic foot of it weighs an extremely small frac¬ 
tion of an ounce. That is the reason it is used 
in the bags of balloons. It is so light that it 
floats in the air as a piece of wood floats on 
water. 


Stunts with Hydrogen 

Let us take a test-tube and hold it at the end of 
the tube coming from the bottle (this is called the 
delivery-tube). If it is left there a few seconds 
it will be filled with hydrogen. The first tubeful 


EXPERIMENTING WITH GASES 


51 


of hydrogen collected in this way will not be ab¬ 
solutely pure because some air was in the bottle 
when we started. Therefore, we shall have a mix¬ 
ture of air and hydrogen. It is not enough to 
cause any trouble, however, and we may safely 
bring the mouth of the test-tube to the flame of the 
burner. A sharp report will be made as the gas 
is ignited. This procedure may be followed 
several times before the bottle will deliver pure 
hydrogen to the mouth of the tube. "When we get 
a tubeful of pure hydrogen and bring it to the 
flame of the burner, 1 we shall find that the gas 
burns quietly with an almost invisible flame. The 
hydrogen simply bums where it comes in contact 
with the air. It is a different matter when the 
hydrogen is mixed with air. It burns all at 
once then, and an explosion results. 

A Flame Produces Water 
When hydrogen burns, what really happens? 
We were told in a forerunning part of this chap¬ 
ter that ‘ 4 burning’’ was merely oxidation. We 
shall understand, then, that the hydrogen is 
combining with oxygen. If this is so, what is the 
resulting product? When two elements combine, 

i Keep flame away from delivery tube 


52 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


a new compound is always formed. We shall 
certainly be surprised when we are told that the 
new product formed in this instance is water. 
It is indeed hard for us to believe that water is 
formed in a flame. This is exactly what happens, 
nevertheless, and we can prove it by holding a 
dry, cold test-tube over the hydrogen flame. The 
water-vapor, or we may say steam, that is formed 
by the flame will collect in the cold tube and con¬ 
dense into droplets. Water is really an oxide of 
hydrogen. 

What Happened in the Bottle 

At this point it is interesting to know what hap¬ 
pened in the bottle to produce the hydrogen. It 
will be remembered that we brought hydrochloric 
acid and zinc together. The zinc had more affin¬ 
ity for the chlorine gas in the hydrochloric acid 
than the hydrogen had, and it induced the chlo¬ 
rine to leave the hydrogen. When the chlorine 
parted company with the hydrogen, the acid no 
longer existed, and the hydrogen was free to do as 
it pleased. When the chlorine joined with the 
zinc, a new compound was formed. This is called 
zinc chloride. ZnCl 2 expresses it chemically. 
After this explanation we will easily recognize the 
following 4 ‘equation” '(chemists always call ex- 


EXPERIMENTING WITH GASES 53 

pressions like this “equations”), which shows at 
a glance just what happened: 

2HC1 + Zn = ZnCl 2 + 2H 

Hydrochloric acid + zinc = zinc chloride + free hydrogen 

The shorthand of the chemist is easy to under¬ 
stand when we know the symbols of all of the 
common elements. 


CHAPTER V 


STUNTS WITH OTHER GASES 

In the last chapter we learned that the gas ox¬ 
ygen was extremely energetic and active, always 
accepting without hesitation the invitation to 
make a partnership with many of the other ele¬ 
ments. In some cases it would join other ele¬ 
ments with such rapidity that it would cause a 
fire, as in the experiment of the burning iron and 
the sulphur. 

A Gas that Prevents Burning 

We are now going to learn something about a 
gas that prevents fires. This gas is called car¬ 
bon dioxide, and it has the chemical formula of 
C0 2 . The C represents carbon, and the 0 2 means 
that the little atom of carbon has associated with 
it two atoms of oxygen. That is why it is called 
carbon dioxide. The “di” means that it has two 
atoms of oxygen. There is another gas called car¬ 
bon monoxide, which has the formula of CO. 

Carbon dioxide can be used to extinguish 

54 


STUNTS WITH OTHER GASES 


55 


fire because it prevents oxidation; or, in other 
words, it is not a “supporter of combustion,’’ as 
the chemist would put it. This may cause us to 
ponder a little, wondering how a gas with oxygen 
in it will not cause burning. Why do not the ox¬ 
ygen atoms break away from the carbon atoms 
and perform the duty that nature laid out for 
them? 

When two elements join partnership, each one 
loses its identity. Carbon dioxide does not resem¬ 
ble oxygen, nor does it resemble carbon, since car¬ 
bon is a black, heavy substance similar to the 
preparation that we use in our lead-pencils. 

How to Produce Carbon Dioxide 

There is a certain amount of carbon dioxide 
present in the air, but it would be very difficult 
for the amateur chemist to extract it. While 
passing, it is also interesting to note that carbon 
dioxide is a very heavy gas. Therefore, we find 
it in the air very near the surface of the earth. 
To get really acquainted with it we shall make 
some of the gas and see how it behaves. We shall 
first take a flask and set it up as shown in Figure 
28. We first crush an ounce or two of ordinary 
charcoal with our pestle. With this we mix an 
equal amount of copper oxide (CuO). The whole 




oEuvegy 

TUBS. 


56 BOYS’ PLAY BOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

mixture is placed in 
the flask and heated un¬ 
til it is red. After a 

coppee avioe f ew moments the bottle 
and charcoal w {\\ k e filled with car¬ 
bon dioxide. It hap- 
_ pens this way: The 

charcoal is a form of 
carbon. Now, the oxy¬ 
gen in the copper oxide 
likes the charcoal more 
than it likes the copper. Therefore, it parts 
company with the copper and goes over to the 
charcoal and forms the gas carbon dioxide. 








Fig. 28 


A Gas that Can Be Poured Like a Liquid 

To prove that carbon dioxide will not support 
combustion, we can try a very simple experiment 
that will at once convince us of this fact. Let us 
take a large glass bottle and set a candle in it. 
We first light the candle. Then we take our 
flask full of the carbon dioxide and pour some of 
the gas into the bottle containing the candle. The 
candle will immediately go out. We are able to 
pour this gas in this way because it is, as before 
stated, very heavy and always sinks in the air. 

Carbon dioxide, like oxygen and hydrogen, is 
















STUNTS WITH OTHER GASES 


57 


odorless, tasteless, and colorless. When weighed 
—and gases can he weighed—it is fonnd to be one 
and one half times as heavy as air. Too much of 
this gas in a room makes us feel drowsy and 
tired, and if a great quantity of it is present it 
will produce death. It is not poisonous, but since 
it does not support combustion it interferes with 
the bodily processes that are brought about by 
oxygen. 


Breath Contains C0 2 

The breath that we exhale from our bodies con¬ 
tains a large percentage of carbon dioxide. We 
can prove this by a very simple and amusing 
experiment. When carbon dioxide is allowed to 
bubble through lime-water the lime-water finally 
changes to milky white. 

A little lime-water can be made by 
dissolving ordinary mason’s lime in 
water. This should be done in a test- 
tube, and the tube can be shaken until 
the liquid becomes clear. If we take 
a glass tube and put it into the lime- 
water and blow into the end of the 
tube, producing bubbles, we shall find 
that the liquid will gradually become 
Fig. 29 white. If the tube is then set away 



, W ATEJi 

i/ 





58 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


for a few moments, we will find that a white pow¬ 
der will gradually settle to the bottom. (See Fig¬ 
ure 29). 

If carbon dioxide is exhaled, why does not the 
presence of this gas in our system cause death? 
If we breathe too much of the gas, it will kill us. 
Why is it that it does not do the same thing within 
our bodies. 

When we inhale oxygen, the oxygen, chemical 
busybody that it is, at once combines with certain 
tissues in our body, oxidizing them. In these 
tissues there is a large amount of carbon, and the 
oxygen, which, by the way, likes carbon a great 
deal, combines with it and forms carbon dioxide. 
The chemist in his shorthand would note the re¬ 
action that takes place in the following way: 

C + 20 = C0 2 

Carbon + oxygen = carbon dioxide 

We exhale the gas as rapidly as it is produced. 

A chemical reaction is always accompanied by 
a certain amount of heat. When oxygen com¬ 
bined with the iron in our previous experiment, 
enough heat was produced to make the iron 
almost white-hot. Not all reactions are so rapid, 
and, peculiarly enough, the degree of heat pro¬ 
duced by any chemical reaction depends entirely 


STUNTS WITH OTHER GASES 


59 


upon how rapidly the reaction takes place. If it 
is a very slow action the heat will be produced 
very gradually and we shall not be able to feel it. 
For instance, heat is produced when iron rusts, 
but the action is so slow that the iron always feels 
cold. Some reactions are so fast that thousands 
of degrees of heat are developed. 

It is this oxidation of the carbon in our bodily 
tissues that keeps us warm. When we work 
hard or run in the winter-time we breathe faster 
and therefore inhale much more, oxygen. This 
causes more of the carbon in the tissues to be ox¬ 
idized, and consequently the bodily heat is 
increased. 


The Gas in Soda Water 

Who would* think that it is this same carbon 
dioxide that makes up such a commotion in our 
soda-water? That is why it is called carbonated 
water. Carbon dioxide is soluble in water. By 
this we mean that it can be dissolved in much the 
same way that sugar is dissolved. Carbonated 
water is always kept under pressure so that the 
gas cannot escape. This is done with soda-water, 
because the water is really overloaded with the 
gas, and when the pressure is withdrawn large 
quantities of the gas will pass off from the sur- 


60 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


face, as the little bubbles traveling upward in our 
sodas indicate. 

The Gas We Call Air 

When we think about gas we cannot help but 
think of the air. Really, there is no gas called 
air; since the air is formed by a number of free 
gases. The gas nitrogen is by far the most abun¬ 
dant. More than 78 per cent of the gas in the air 
is nitrogen. There is 21 per cent of oxygen and 
only 4/100 per cent of carbon dioxide in the air. 
Aside from these gases, there are krypton, xenon, 
helium, argon, and neon. These gases, however, 
are very, very scarce, and only an extremely small 
percentage is present. 

The Green Gas Chlorine 

Chlorine is another gas which can be easily 
produced and which will form the basis of some 
very beautiful and wonderful experiments. Chlo¬ 
rine is a renegade gas so far as the human system 
is concerned. Its poisonous effect when inhaled 
in any considerable quantity was demonstrated 
during the World War, when the Germans lib¬ 
erated large quantities of it and allowed it to blow 
over the trenches of the allied soldiers in great 
yellowish-green clouds. Although chlorine is 


STUNTS WITH OTHER GASES 


61 


poisonous, we can play with it safely and with no 
danger of disastrous results. 

To make chlorine in sufficient quantities for 
experimental purposes, we must set up the ap¬ 
paratus illustrated in Figure 30. Here we see a 
flask connected to a bottle containing water. The 
second tube in the flask is more or less a safety- 
valve, which would allow an outlet for the gas if 
the other tube became plugged. Into the Mask 



that is over the flame we place about 150 c. c. of 
hydrochloric acid. To this we add about two tea¬ 
spoonfuls of manganese dioxide. After applying 




























62 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


heat to the flask for a short time, a greenish- 
yellow gas will rise above the surface of the hy¬ 
drochloric acid in small clouds and pass through 
the connecting tube into the bottle containing the 
water. It will bubble through the water and pass 
on its journey into the second bottle, which will 
gradually become tilled. Since chlorine is a very 
heavy gas, it will not show much inclination to 
escape into the atmosphere. Therefore we need 
only lay a glass plate over the mouth of the 
bottle. 

In a few moments we shall find the bottle full 
of gas. The production of this gas is expressed 
in chemical shorthand as follows: 

Mn0 2 + 4HC1 = Cl 2 + MnCl 2 + 2H 2 0 

Manganese dioxide + hydrochloric acid = chlo¬ 
rine gas + manganese chloride + water 

Experiments with Chlorine 

Now that we have produced chlorine, let us see 
what we can do with it in the way of experiments. 
Chlorine lends itself admirably to several little 
chemical tricks that can easily be tried. First 
we will test chlorine as a bleaching agent, a duty 
it performs on the clothes which we send to the 
laundry. Bleaching means to whiten, to render 
colorless. Let us take a piece of cheap calico and 


STUNTS WITH OTHER GASES 63 

soak it in water. We shall then lift the cover 
from the top of the chlorine bottle and drop the 
wet calico into the bottle. We shall be surprised 
to find that the calico will become almost white 
within a few minutes’ time. This experiment is 
illustrated in Figure 31. Chlorine is one of the 
most powerful bleaching agents, as this experi¬ 
ment will help us to understand. 

In conducting these chlorine experiments let us 
take care not to inhale any of the gas or to put 
our nose close to the bottle containing the gas. 
Of course we shall smell some of it, since a trifle 
will leak out into the atmosphere. This small 
amount, however, is not harmful. 

If a pinch of finely powdered 



antimony is dropped into a bottle 
of chlorine, the tiny particles will 
burn brilliantly immediately they 
come in contact with the gas. 
This is a very beautiful experi¬ 
ment, since the burning antimony 
particles look like little shooting 
stars. Care must be taken to 



Fig. 31 


use only a pinch of antimony, as the experiment 
would otherwise be dangerous. 

Chlorine is a heavy green gas. It does not 
occur in nature in a free state, and therefore we 








64 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


always have to make it up in the laboratory when 
we wish to use it for experimental purposes. 
Although chlorine does not appear free, we find 
great quantities of it in association with many 
of the other elements. In the sea there are mil¬ 
lions upon millions of tons of sodium chloride, 
or table-salt. Then, we find in other places po¬ 
tassium chloride and magnesium chloride in large 
quantities. 

Chemists have included chlorine in the list of 
extremely active chemicals. There is nothing 
bashful about chlorine. It is always ready at the 
least encouragement to- join partnership with a 
host of other elements. This it does rapidly and 
without hesitation in most cases. Usually when 
it combines with another element a chloride is 
formed, just as oxygen forms an oxide when it 
associates itself with other elements. 

A Gas That Smells Like Bad Eggs 

If we want to have some fun with our friends, 
we can prepare a great lark by generating a small 
quantity of the gas called hydrogen sulphide. 
Hydrogen sulphide has the reputation of smelling 
like very ancient eggs, and in fact it is the gas 
that is produced in rotten eggs when the interior 
is exposed to the atmosphere. If we can capture 


STUNTS WITH OTHER GASES 


65 


a bottle of this otherwise innocent gas and liber¬ 
ate it under the proper conditions we can have 
real fnn watching its effect upon those present. 

Let us first make a dilute solution of hydro¬ 
chloric acid (IIC1). We shall use 25 c.c. of water 
and about 10 c.c. of acid. The apparatus we use 
will be the same that we employed in generating 
our hydrogen (Fig. 27). About twenty grams of 
ferrous sulphide are placed in the flask. The 
dilute acid solution is poured down the funnel. 
When this is done we shall find that the acid solu¬ 
tion will vigorously attack the ferrous sulphide, 
and after a few seconds’ time we shall smell the 
rotten egg odor produced by the hydrogen sul¬ 
phide. 

Hydrogen sulphide bears the formula H 2 S and 
is a simple compound of hydrogen and sulphur. 
It is colorless and is much lighter than air. To 
prove that it contains sulphur we can conduct a 
very simple experiment, which is illustrated in 

Figure 32. The gas is al¬ 
lowed to escape through 
a small glass jet. If a 
lighted match is applied to 
the end of the jet we shall 
be surprised to see the gas ignited. It is a well 
behaved flame and burns quietly with a very pale 



66 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

flame. While the gas is burning in this way, let 
us take a cold china cup or some similar article 
and allow the flame to come in contact with it. If 
we watch closely we shall see that the part of the 
china with which the flame makes contact will 
gradually become yellow. This is caused by sul¬ 
phur depositing itself upon the surface. In the 
flame the hydrogen sulphide breaks down; that is, 
the hydrogen parts company with the sulphur. 

Before leaving this subject of hydrogen sul¬ 
phide let us carefully review the following for¬ 
mula, which shows exactly what happened when 
we brought the hydrochloric acid solution in con¬ 
tact with the ferrous sulphide: 

2FeS + 4HC1 = 2FeCl 2 + 2H 2 S 

Ferrous sulphide + hydrochloric acid == ferrous 
chloride + hydrogen sulphide. 

Sulphur Dioxide 

Like chlorine, sulphur dioxide has earned for 
itself the reputation of being a powerful bleach¬ 
ing agent. It is also very heavy, about twice as 
heavy as air. 

Sulphur dioxide can be produced in large quan¬ 
tities by the simple apparatus shown in Figure 33. 
Here we have a flask connected to what is known 
as a U-tube, which can be purchased at most 


STUNTS WITH OTHER GASES 


67 


drug-stores. The U:tuhe is filled to the extent 
shown with concentrated sulphuric acid (H 2 S0 4 ). 
In handling this acid we must take care not to 
get any on our hands or clothes, since it is an 
extremely corrosive acid, which does not have 
much respect for most things that it comes in 
contact with. Into the flask we place the same 
materials that we used in the preparation of 
hydrogen sulphide, i. e., ferrous sulphide and 



dilute hydrochloric acid. A short time after the 
action begins we can place the delivery-tube into a 
wide-mouthed bottle, and we shall soon begin to 
smell an odor similar to that which we experience 
when a sulphur match is lighted. After the bot¬ 
tle is filled with the gas we can slip a glass cover 
on after lifting out the delivery-tube. 

To test the bleaching power of the sulphur di- 
















68 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


oxide we need only wet a small piece of calico and 
drop it into the bottle. It will be necessary to 
leave the calico there for an hour or more before 
it is bleached white, and from this we decide that 
sulphur dioxide is not so lively a bleaching agent 
as its rival chlorine. 

Let us briefly go over the process involved in 
the production of sulphur dioxide. What we 
really did was to pass hydrogen sulphide through 
sulphuric acid. That is, we caused the gas to 
bubble through the acid, and in doing so a very 
remarkable chemical change took place. Presto! 
In place of hydrogen sulphide with its formula of 
H 2 S, we find sulphur dioxide with a formula of 
S0 2 . 

H 2 S + H 2 S0 4 = S + 2H 2 0 + S0 2 

Hydrogen sulphide + sulphuric acid = sulphur 
-f- water + sulphur dioxide. 

From this equation we notice the presence of 
water. How is water present when we did not 
begin with it? The water is formed during the 
reaction, and the free sulphide is precipitated to 
the bottom of the U-tube, where we can recognize 
it by its characteristic yellow color. 

Sulphur dioxide has a suffocating odor and, if 
inhaled in too large quantities, will cause death. 
We do not need to have any fear of it, however, 


STUNTS WITH OTHER GASES 


69 


since small quantities cannot produce disastrous 
results. Since sulphur dioxide is very heavy we 
can pour it from one vessel to another in the 
same manner as water. It is used largely as a 
disinfectant because it is a powerful enemy of 
germs, willing them the instant it comes in con¬ 
tact with them. 

Making Ammonia Gas 

We have all heard of ammonia, yet how many 
of us know that ammonia is simply water in 
which a quantity of ammonia gas has been dis¬ 
solved? Can we dissolve a gas in water? Yes, 
some gases dissolve in water just like sugar or 
salt. 

Ammonia gas is most useful and so common 
that we cannot consider ourselves good chemists 
unless we make some of it and experiment with it. 

In producing ammonia gas we can press into 
use the same apparatus that was employed in 
the preparation of hydrogen. A mixture of 
about ten or fifteen grams of powdered quick-lime 
and ammonia chloride is placed in the flask. 
This mixture is heated gently for a few seconds, 
and if our ‘ 4 nose knows’’ we shall soon detect the 
familiar odor of ammonia. 

There is another simple way of producing the 


70 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


gas ammonia. We shall find this illustrated in 
Figure 34. Here we see a test-tube so arranged 
that the gas produced within it will discharge into 
a bottle and gradually force the air out of it. 
The test-tube contains a mixture of ammonium 
chloride and sodium hydroxide. If we heat the 

test-tube gently, the 
gas ammonia will be 
given off in large 
quantities. It can be 
collected in a bottle. 

In chemical short¬ 
hand ammonia is writ¬ 
ten NH 3 , meaning that 
its molecule has one 
atom of the gas nitro¬ 
gen and three atoms of 
the gas hydrogen. 
The chemical action 
which takes place in our test-tube between the 
ammonium chloride and the sodium hydroxide fol¬ 
lows: 

NH 4 C1 + NaOH - NH S + H 2 0 + NaCl 

Ammonium chloride -f- sodium hydroxide = 
ammonia gas _j_ water _j_ sodium chloride 

This reaction is a most interesting one, as we 
shall see if we study it closely. Here we start 

















STUNTS WITH OTHER GASES 


71 


out with two compounds and end up with three: 
ammonia gas, water, and table salt, or sodium 
chloride as it is called in chemistry. 

Burning Ammonia 

If we take our test-tube and hold the glass 
delivery-tube close to a Bunsen flame while the 
gas is being evolved, we shall find that the am¬ 
monia burns. The flame is extinguished imme¬ 
diately the delivery-tube is taken away from the 
burner. 

Ammonia is colorless but has a very charac¬ 
teristic odor, and consequently it is easily recog¬ 
nized. 

If we wet the palm of our hand and clamp it 
tightly over the mouth of the bottle containing 
the ammonia gas, we shall be surprised to find 
that it will be difficult to pull our hand away from 
the bottle. It will feel as though the palm of our 
hand is being sucked down into the interior. 
What causes this? Does the gas have an at¬ 
tractive power? We can find the answer to this 
conundrum by taking our hand away and placing 
the wet portion of it to our nose. We shall at 
once detect the strong odor of ammonia gas. 
Here is what happened: Ammonia is greatly at- 


72 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

tracted by water and readily dissolves in it. So 
energetic is this action that a single quart of 
water will contain as many as sixty quarts of gas. 
Just think of that! Therefore, when we put a 
hand over the top of the bottle the little molecules 
of ammonia in the bottle rush forward pell-mell 
to join the water molecules clinging to the palm 
of our hand. When ammonia dissolves in water 
it does not require so much space as it does when 
it is free as a gas. The ammonia leaving the bot¬ 
tle produced a partial vacuum, and that is what 
caused our hand to be sucked down against the 
bottle. The pressure on the inside of the bottle 
was low, but the pressure on the outside, on the 
top of our hand, was normal, which accounts for 
the mystery. 

Nitrogen, a Lazy Gas 

Nitrogen has been called the lazy gas of the air. 
Yet it is a very important gas, especially to plant 
life, and to human life for that matter. More 
than 78 per cent of the air that we breathe i’s 
made up of nitrogen. Twenty-one per cent is 
oxygen. If air was composed of oxygen alone, 
our bodies would virtually burn up with heat, and 
it is the nitrogen or lazy gas that prevents oxygen 
from becoming too active in our system. 


STUNTS WITH OTHER GASES 


73 


Malang Nitrogen 

Really to become acquainted with a thing we 
must be able to experiment with it. Making 
nitrogen is simple, and there is no better way of 
becoming acquainted with it. We are not really 
going to make nitrogen; we are simply going to 
take it out of the air by separating it from the 
other gases. These experiments must be very 
carefully made, and the apparatus necessary to 
produce the gas is illustrated in Figure 35. Be¬ 
fore conducting the ex¬ 
periment it will be nec¬ 
essary for us to invest 
in a small amount of the 
element phosphorus, 
which we shall be able 

_ to obtain at any chemi- 

Fig. 35 J 

cal supply house. Phos¬ 
phorous is a peculiar element. It comes in the 
form of little grayish sticks about the diameter of 
our little finger. These sticks are kept immersed 
in kerosene, since an energetic action takes place 
when phosphorus comes in contact with the air or 
with water. For this reason we must not touch 
phosphorus with our bare fingers, for it will be¬ 
gin to burn almost immediately when it is taken 











74 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

from the kerosene. It is also well to remember 
not to bring the hands near the mouth while 
working with phosphorus, since it is poisonous 
and has a peculiar way of attacking the gums, 
causing the teeth to drop out. 

In Figure 35 we shall notice that the wide¬ 
mouthed bottle is turned upside down in a pan 
of water. In the water inside the bottle there is 
placed a small wooden float carrying either a 
crucible or a tin box-cover. 

With a pair of pliers or tweezers we take a piece 
of phosphorus from the bottle and quickly put it 
in the box-cover. The wide-mouthed bottle is 
quickly placed over it. Things begin to happen 
when this is done. The phosphorus will burst 
into flame, and a white smoke will fill the interior 
of the bottle. If we are very noticing we shall 
also see the water rise in the bottle. Some in¬ 
teresting things are happening here. The phos¬ 
phorus will burn for a short time and gradually 
go out. 

First, what caused the flame of the burning 
phosphorus to be extinguished? We know in this 
case that oxygen was combining with the phos¬ 
phorus. That is what caused it to burn. It kept 
on burning until there was no more oxygen left 
in the bottle. Therefore we took the oxygen 


STUNTS WITH OTHER GASES 


75 


away from the air and left nitrogen behind. 
The gas that we have left in the bottle will be 
almost pure nitrogen, which is colorless, odorless, 
and quite inactive. 

That is all well and good, but what caused the 
water to rise in the bottle? When the oxygen 
combined with the phosphorus the gas-pressure 
inside the bottle was greatly reduced, while the 
air-pressure exerted upon the surface of the 
water outside the bottle remained the same. The 
outside pressure, therefore, had a tendency to 
push the water up into the bottle when the oxy¬ 
gen was taken away from the nitrogen. 

Experimenting with Nitrogen 

Let us take our bottle away from the water and 
cork it up. To prove to ourselves that nitrogen 
is quite lazy, let us light a small splinter of wood 
with a match and drop it into the bottle of nitro¬ 
gen, quickly replacing the cork. The flame will 
be instantly extinguished, proving to us that 
nitrogen is not a supporter of combustion. 

Although nitrogen is lazy in some ways, it be¬ 
comes very active in others. For instance, as a 
basis of all high explosive materials such as gun¬ 
cotton, gunpowder, T.N.T., and cordite its atom, 
when associated with atoms of certain other ele- 


76 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


merits, becomes extremely restless. Nitrogen is 
the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of the chemical fam¬ 
ily. In one place we find it the peaceful law- 
abiding gas of the air, and in another place we 
find it forming a vicious explosive, so powerful in 
its effect that even the strongest battle-ships are 
unable to withstand its attacks. This finishes 
our experiments with gases for the time being. 
Let us not think that we have played with all the 
gases that are known. Far from it. We have 
only become acquainted with the most common 
gases. There are thousands of different gases, 
and it would be impossible for us to produce them 
all without a profound knowledge of chemical 
science. Furthermore, few of them are so inter¬ 
esting as those we have named. 

* 

More Gases of the Air 

Some gases are extremely rare. Take the gas 
krypton, whose name means the “mysterious ’’ 
gas. Krypton was unknown until a few years 
ago, when it was accidentally discovered. There 
is only an extremely small percentage of krypton 
present in the air, and its discovery by Lord 
Rayleigh and Sir William Ramsay, noted English 
chemists, was made only after long and painstak- 


STUNTS WITH OTHER GASES 


77 


ing effort. These men also discovered argon, 
neon, and xenon, which are also very rare gases; 
only an extremely small percentage of them is 
present in the atmosphere. 

Helium , the Balloon Gas 

In the chapter dealing with hydrogen we 
learned that this was the lightest of all gases. 
In fact, the gas hydrogen is the lightest sub¬ 
stance in the world. For this reason it has been 
employed in balloons and airships. Our chem¬ 
istry tells us that a mixture of hydrogen and air 
is dangerously explosive, because the hydrogen 
burns in air. This has brought about some very 
disastrous aerial accidents. Balloons and air¬ 
ships filled with the gas have exploded, and many 
lives have been lost. 

Helium stands second only to hydrogen as the 
lightest substance known, but, unlike hydrogen, 
helium is a most inactive element. Try as we 
may, we cannot burn it, nor can we induce it to 
form a partnership with any other known ele¬ 
ment. It is even far more lazy than nitrogen. 
For this reason it has formed an ideal substance 
for use in balloons and airships. There is no 
danger of explosions, and its buoyancy is vir- 


78 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


tually as great as hydrogen. One disadvantage 
of helium is its great cost, since it is produced 
only in limited quantities, and many, many thou¬ 
sands of dollars ’ worth of it is necessary to fill 
an airship. 


CHAPTER VI 


THE THINGS WE CALL ACIDS, BASES, AND SALTS 

Thus far in our story of chemistry we shall 
probably have noticed that the different chem¬ 
icals are classified. We have just been consider¬ 
ing gases, and now we are going to learn 
something about three more classifications: acids, 
bases, and salts. 

What is an acid? And how can we detect an 
acid? To detect acid, the chemist uses what is 
known as blue litmus-paper. Litmus-paper can 
be purchased at the chemical supply houses, and 
ten or fifteen cents 1 worth of it will last a long 
time. If we take a small piece of this paper and 
dip it into an acid, a magical change takes place. 
Instantly the paper changes its color from blue 
to red. The litmus-paper is very, very sensitive, 
and only a tiny amount of acid is necessary to 
change its color. If we had but one drop of acid 

in a whole cup of pure water we could detect 

79 



80 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

the presence of this small amount by inserting 
the litmus-paper in the water. Litmus-paper is 
invaluable to the chemist. When he has a 
suspicious-looking liquid before him, he simply 
places his litmus-paper in it to tell whether it has 
any acid properties. This is a quick test, and 
it saves him hard work in making an analysis. 

The Three Principal Acids 

All acids have certain properties in common. 
There is hydrochloric acid with its formula. HC1. 
There is sulphuric acid, H 2 S0 4 , and there is nitric 
acid, HNOo. If we look closely at these for¬ 
mulas we shall see that all of these acids contain 
the gas hydrogen. This is true of every acid, but 
let us not make the mistake of thinking that all 
chemicals containing hydrogen are acids. How¬ 
ever, in every acid hydrogen is present. There 
is another characteristic of acids: they all are 
bitter and sour. We cannot taste sulphuric, 
nitric, or hydrochloric acids because they are ter¬ 
ribly corrosive and would burn our flesh; but we 
can taste vinegar, which contains acetic acid. 
We know that it is sour and bitter. 

There is another peculiar thing about all acids: 
they must all be dissolved in water before they 
demonstrate their acid properties. Hydrogen 


ACIDS, BASES, AND SALTS 


81 


chloride (HC1) is a gas until it becomes dissolved 
in water, and then it demonstrates all the prop¬ 
erties of a real acid. 

There is still another interesting property of 
acids. If we place a piece of zinc, copper, or 
other common metal in a beaker with any one of 
the acids named, the acid will attack it vigor¬ 
ously, and we shall notice little bubbles of gas 
leaving the metal and ris¬ 
ing to the surface. (See 
Figure 36.) These little 
bubbles of gas are formed 
by hydrogen. This hydro- ^ et ^ l 
gen comes from the acid, 
and it is replaced by the 
metal. The acid will keep 
eating away at the metal until it is entirely con¬ 
sumed or until all of the hydrogen of the acid is 
set free. Thus we decide that all acids attack 
metals and lose their hydrogen. 

The King of Chemicals 

Sulphuric acid has been called “the king of all 
chemicals,” because of the wide use it has and 
because of its great importance to the. world at 
large. Pure sulphuric acid contains only the ele¬ 
ments hydrogen, sulphur, and oxygen. It is a 


** 



Fig. 36 











82 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

colorless liquid, rather heavy and with a peculiar 
pungent odor. It is not at all costly, and twenty- 
five or thirty cents’ worth will be enough to last 
some time. 

Sulphuric acid is difficult to make in the lab¬ 
oratory, and we shall have to forego the pleasure 
of producing it. We shall, however, find a large 
number of uses to which it can be applied, and 
we should keep a supply of it on our laboratory 
shelf. 


Making Hydrochloric Acid 
Hydrochloric acid is also important, and many 
hundreds of tons of it are used in this country 



Fig. 37 


every year. The simple apparatus necessary for 
its production is shown in Figure 37. About 
twenty grams of ordinary table-salt (sodiunj 
chloride, NaCl) is placed in the bottom of the 
















83 


ACIDS, BASES, AND SALTS 

Florence flask. We now take a few drops of con¬ 
centrated sulphuric acid and pour it into the 
funnel, allowing it to come in contact with the 
salt. When we do this we shall notice a gas 
bubbling up through the water in the test-tube. 
After a few minutes we shall be surprised to find 
that the water in the test-tube turns a piece of 
blue litmus-paper red, proving that the water has 
become an acid. In fact, we shall find that we 
have a dilute solution of hydrochloric acid. How 
did this come about? 

The experiment is easily explained by a glance 
at the formula below. Here we have an interest¬ 
ing case of what is known as double decomposi¬ 
tion: 

2NaCl + H 2 S0 4 = Na 2 S0 4 + 2HC1 

Salt + sulphuric acid = sodium sulphate = hydrochloric acid 

Another Important Acid 
Surely we have all heard of nitric acid. It 
stands next to sulphuric acid as the most im¬ 
portant chemical in the acid family. In war¬ 
time many millions of tons of it are used, and in 
peace-time, as well, it fulfils many human needs. 
Like sulphuric acid, pure nitric acid is a white 
solution with a peculiar sour smell. Let us make 
some of it just to learn more about it. 


84 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


A Little Nitric Acid Plant 

If we will study the drawing in Figure 38 we 
shall see how easy it is to set up our own little 
nitric acid plant. We should first put about ten 
grams of sodium nitrate (NaN0 3 ) into our mor¬ 
tar and grind it well with our pestle. We now 
place a small amount of concentrated sulphuric 



acid upon the sodium nitrate to moisten it. We 
must keep cold water running over the large 
flask, and the smaller one must be heated gently 
over a Bunsen burner. After a time a brownish 
liquid will begin to form on the sides of the flask 
and to accumulate at the bottom. This is nitric 
acid, as we can prove by testing it with litmus- 
paper. 

An interesting action has taken place here, 















85 


ACIDS, BASES, AND SALTS 

which can be traced through by observing the fol¬ 
lowing formula: 

NaNo 3 + H 2 S0 4 = NaHS0 4 - HNO s 

Sodium nitrate + sulphuric acid = sodium bi- 
sulpliate + nitric acid 

How Acids Act On Metals 

Let us experiment with the action of acids on 
metals. We know one thing to start with, and 
that is that all acids attack metals in general and 
that the gas hydrogen always escapes from the 
acid. Let us drop a piece of clean zinc into a 
beaker with a little hydrochloric acid in it. The 
acid will instantly attack the zinc, and the zinc 
will be surrounded with a cloud of little white 
bubbles. If we put our ear down to the beaker 
we can hear a sizzling noise. This is the sound 
of the reaction, which is very energetic. The hy¬ 
drogen escapes at the surface of the liquid, and a 
new compound is left behind. We have, in place 
of zinc, a compound known as zinc chloride. If 
we look at the following formula we shall see 
that the various elements have simply shifted 
about: 

2HC1 + Zn = ZnCl 2 + 2H 

Hydrochloric acid + zinc = zinc chloride + free hydrogen 

If we boil the remaining solution away we shall 


86 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

have left a white substance that is known as zinc 
chloride. 


The Meaning of Salts 

Zinc chloride is what is known as salt. A salt 
is always produced when a metal is attacked by 
an acid. In the case cited above, the zinc chloride 
was the salt produced. If some other metal had 
been dropped into the acid, the salt of that metal 
would have been produced. 

Let us drop some copper into nitric acid and 
see what happens. If we watch it we shall no¬ 
tice that little bubbles of hydrogen form and 
rapidly rise to the surface in a continuous stream. 
The formula which follows tells us exactly what 
has happened. 

Cu + 2HN0 3 = Cu (NO s ) 2 + 2H 

Copper + nitric acid = copper nitrate -f- hydrogen 

In this case the salt of copper is formed; it is 
copper nitrate. Now, if this copper had been 
dropped into sulphuric acid, copper sulphate 
would have been formed, which is also a salt of 
copper. So we see that the salt of the metal 
- formed depends upon the kind of acid with which 
it comes in contact. If we drop zinc into sul¬ 
phuric acid instead of hydrochloric acid we shall 
bring about the following reaction: 


87 


ACIDS, BASES, AND SALTS 
Zn + H 2 S0 4 = ZnS0 4 + 2H 

Zino + sulphuric acid = zinc sulphate -f- hydrogen 

Here zinc sulphate, another salt of the metal zinc, 
is formed. There is a salt for virtually all of the 
metals. It is a general rule that when a salt is 
formed hydrogen is always set free. 

Something about Bases 

There is still another important classification 
in chemistry about which we must learn some¬ 
thing. We refer to bases. Bases are just as im¬ 
portant as acids and salts, and their chemistry is 
most interesting. 

We might start out by describing a base as a 
compound which always contains hydrogen and 
oxygen together. For this reason bases are 
sometimes called ‘ 1 hydroxides/’ a word formed 
by a combination of the words hydrogen and oxy¬ 
gen. When we see (OH) placed together in an 
expression like Na (OH), we know that the com¬ 
pound is a hydroxite or a base. 

Bases are also called alkalis, and a solution 
formed by sodium hydroxide or potasium hy¬ 
droxide is said to be alkaline in nature. The 
three chief hydroxides are sodium hydroxide 
(Na (OH) ), calcium hydroxide (Ca (OH) 2 ), and 
potassium hydroxide (2KOH). 


88 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

These three compounds are very important 
actors in the great drama of chemistry, and we 
must not lose sight of them. Inasmuch as these 
compounds are important, we should know how 
to detect their presence. This is not difficult, for, 
like acids, their presence can be very easily dis¬ 
covered by the use of litmus-paper. If we dip 
a piece of litmus-paper into a solution of a 
hydroxide, it remains blue where the liquid 
comes in contact with it. If we take a piece 
of blue litmus-paper and drop it into an acid it 
turns red. 


Neutral Chemicals 

Can we have a chemical compound that is 
neither a base nor an acid? Yes, we do have such 
compounds; many of them, in fact. We can form 
such a compound by bringing an acid and a base 
together. Let us place in a beaker a small 
amount of sodium hydroxide. We then place in 
the same beaker a little hydrochloric acid. A 
violent reaction takes place, and after the chem¬ 
ical storm has subsided we shall test the resulting 
solution with litmus-paper: the litmus-paper re¬ 
mains blue. That is because we have neither an 
acid nor a base present, but what is known as a 


ACIDS, BASES, AND SALTS 89 

neutral compound. Here is what happened in the 
beaker: 

HC1 + NaOH = NaCl + H 2 0 

Hydrochloric acid + sodium hydroxide — 
sodium chloride -f- water 

When an acid is brought in contact with a base, 
water and a neutral chemical are always formed. 
If we had used potassium hydroxide we should 
havet had potassium chloride as a result rather 
than sodium chloride. 

An Interesting Experiment 
If we were very good chemists we should know 
that our litmus-paper is not so sensitive as it 
should be for tests of the nature we have just 
made. If a chemist desired to know whether or 
not a solution was slightly alkaline or just a bit 
acid, he could not rely upon the litmus-paper test 
but would have to use what is* called an “indi¬ 
cator.” The principal indicator used is phe- 
nolphthalein. This is a very high-sounding 
■word, but we do not even have to learn how to 
pronounce it. If we write it down on a piece of 
paper and take it to the drug-store the druggist 
will gladly supply us with five or ten cents ’ worth 
of the substance. When we get it we shall dis- 


90 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


solve it in water, put it in a vessel labeled “ in¬ 
dicator,” and keep it for future use. 

Let us experiment with our indicator. First we 
will measure out about 5 c.c. of some kind of 
dilute acid such as sulphuric or hydrochloric. 
This is placed in a beaker, and in another beaker 
we place about 25 c.c. of a strong base, such as 
sodium hydroxide. We next add about one drop 
of our indicator solution to the hydroxide solu¬ 
tion. Now we take a medicine-dropper and fill 
it with the hydroxide. Then we place it drop by 
drop into the beaker containing the acid. After 
each drop we should stir the acid with a glass rod. 
What we are trying to do here is to neutralize the 
acid, and finally it will reach a point where a sin¬ 
gle drop of the base or hydroxide will cause the 
solution to turn to a pink color because of the in¬ 
dicator. What we really do is to balance the base 
against the acid until there is just a tiny bit 
more base than there is acid, and our indica¬ 
tor instantly tells us that the acid has been 
subdued. 

The fact that a base will neutralize an acid is 
an interesting thing to know, since this knowledge 
can often be put to good use. For instance, if we 
get a little acid on our clothing and allow it to re¬ 
main there, it will destroy the fabric and we shall 


ACIDS, BASES, AND SALTS 


91 


have a hole. We should immediately apply a 
Solution of ammonia, which is an alkali. This 
will neutralize the acid and save our clothes. 

Now let us learn something about metals. 


CHAPTER VII 


THE CHEMICAL STORY OF METALS 

We do not need to think hard to understand the 
importance of metals in the daily life of the world. 
Millions upon millions of tons of the more com¬ 
mon metals such as copper, iron, and aluminum 
are used every year. Metals are also very impor¬ 
tant in chemistry, and we can conduct some very 
interesting experiments with them. 

First let us make sure that we know the dif¬ 
ference between an alloy of metals and a metallic 
element. For instance, can we answer the ques¬ 
tion: Is brass an element? Is it a compound? 
Brass is not an element, nor is it a compound. It 
is a physical mixture of the elements copper and 
zinc. When these two metals are heated together 
they mix perfectly with each other, and when 
cooled they form a golden-yellowish metal, which 
finds a multitude of uses in the workaday world. 
Brass has been called an alloy. Bronze is also an 
alloy. Alloys are always made up of two or more 
of the metal elements. 


92 


THE CHEMICAL STORY OF METALS 98 


The Most Important Metals 
In going over our list of elements we can eas¬ 
ily pick out the most important metals. They fol¬ 
low 


Aluminum 

Cadmium 

Cobalt 

Iron 

Mercury 

Silver 

Tungsten 


Antimony 

Calcium 

Copper 

Lead 

Nickel 

Tin 

Zinc 


Bismuth 

Chromium 

Gold 

Magnesium 

Platinum 

Sodium 


From this list we easily pick iron as the most 
widely used of all the metal family. Iron when 
mixed with carbon forms steel. The presence of 
the carbon causes the iron to become hard, and in 
this way its resisting and wearing qualities, as 
well as its strength, are greatly increased. We 
recognize iron chemically by the symbol Fe. 

Our geographies will tell us of the thousands of 
iron-mines that are situated at various points on 
the face of the earth, where enormous quantities 
of iron ore are available. We must not think that 
iron is dug up out of the earth as a metal. There 
are only a few metals that sometimes appear in 
nature in a free state. Silver and gold are two of 


94 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


these. Iron makes its appearance in a compound 
called ferrous sulphide, which corresponds with 
the chemical formula FeS. Here we have iron 
and sulphur in partnership, and to obtain the iron 
as a metal we must induce the sulphur to take to 
its heels. This process is carried out in an enor¬ 
mous furnace called a blast-furnace. Here the 
oxygen in the air combines with the sulphur and 
leaves the iron free. The following equation tells 
us just what happens in the blast-furnace: 

FeS + 20 - Fe + SO* 

Iron sulphide + oxygen = iron -f- sulphur dioxide 

Iron Plus Hydrochloric Acid 
Let us put a small piece of iron into a beaker 
and pour some hydrochloric acid over it. A vi¬ 
olent chemical action takes place, which will con¬ 
tinue for a few minutes. Gradually the scene 
will become quiet, and if we have placed enough 
acid over the iron we shall find that the iron no 
longer exists. It has been “eaten up” by the 
acid. If we evaporate the resulting liquid we 
shall have left in the form of a solid the salt of 
iron, which, in this instance, is ferric chloride, 
and which comes about as a result of the following 
reaction; 


THE CHEMICAL STORY OF METALS 95 


Fe + 3HC1 = FeCl 3 + 3H 

Iron -j- hydrochloric acid = ferric chloride + hydrogen 

Iron Rust: What Is It? 

If we take a clean nail and leave it in a moist 
place it will gradually become coated with a red¬ 
dish-brown powder. This powder is the result of 
a combination that takes place between iron and 
oxygen. The iron is oxidized by the oxygen, and 
a new compound, iron oxide (Fe 2 0 3 ), is formed. 
This is the thing that we call rust. You will 
remember that we burned a watch-spring in ox¬ 
ygen some time ago. This was the case of oxida¬ 
tion resulting in the formation of iron oxide, or 
ferric oxide, as it is sometimes called. 

Copper, the Oldest Metal 

Copper was the first used metal. It was dis¬ 
covered thousands of years ago by primitive men, 
who made tools of it. It was found free in nature, 
and advantage was taken of its properties. 

We all know what copper looks like. It is a 
reddish metal and in the pure state has a flesh- 
pink appearance. We can experiment with cop¬ 
per by first putting some bits of copper wire in a 
beaker. To these we add about 50 c.c. of hydro¬ 
chloric acid, and to this 2 or 3 c.c. of nitric acid. 


96 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


A reaction takes place and as a result we produce 
cupric chloride, which has the formula CuCl 2 . 
This we can obtain as a solid if we heat the beaker 
over a flame and drive the liquid off in steam. 
The word “cupric” comes from the Latin, and it 
is usually used in place of the word copper. 

We are all more or less familiar with blue-stone, 

or, as it is sometimes called, blue vitriol. Blue 

vitriol looks like a beautiful stone. It is cupric 

or copper sulphate. We 

can make a little of this as 

( suLPHuf? |c ghown in Figure 39. We 

first place some bits of cop- 

• 

per wire in a beaker and 
place over them about 50 
c.c. of concentrated sulphu¬ 
ric acid. After some heating the compound 
CuS0 4 is formed, and this is how it is done: 

Cu + 2H 2 S0 4 = CuS0 4 + $0 2 + 2H 2 0 

Copper + sulphuric acid — copper sulphate -f- 
sulpliur dioxide -)- water 



* <•* * . 



COPPER WIRE 


Fig. 39 


Mercury, the Liquid Metal 

Most of us probably know mercury by its more 
common name of quicksilver. It acquired this 
name for two very good reasons. First, it is quick 
to move from one place to another by rolling down 










Courtesy “Science and Invention” 

Heating a mineral in the Bunsen flame 



Courtesy “Science and Invention” 

Using the wash-bottle 











THE CHEMICAL STORY OF METALS 97 


the slightest incline. Secondly, it has the appear¬ 
ance of silver, although it is not chemically 
related to silver in any way. Mercury is 
extremely heavy, as we shall at once appreciate if 
we lift a cupful of it. 

In experimenting with mercury, we must take 
care not to spill it. Once spilled, it is very dif¬ 
ficult to recover. When it is dropped it breaks up 
into tiny globules or balls that scamper in all 
directions. 

Mercury is a most interesting metal, and it finds 
wide use in the workaday world. It is placed in 
thermometers because it expands and contracts 
greatly with changes in temperature. For this 
reason on a hot day mercury in the thermometer 
goes away up, and on a cold day it contracts and 
goes away down. * 

Making “Silver” Pennies 

Here is an interesting little experiment: Let 
us put a few drops of mercury in a beaker. Over 
the mercury we place a few cubic centimeters of 
nitric acid; we add the acid until the mercury dis¬ 
appears. We now have mercury nitrate, and if 
we drop a clean penny into this solution of mer¬ 
cury nitrate we shall be surprised to find that the 
penny will become coated with a layer of mercury. 


98 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


The penny is bright and has the appearance of 
silver. Unfortunately the mercury will not con¬ 
tinue to adhere to the penny, and before long the 
penny will return to its original color. 

A Metal That Burns 

In our experiments with oxygen we were able 
to make an iron spring burn by first heating it 
and bringing it in contact with a bottle full of 
fresh oxygen. Magnesium can be burned as we 
burn a match. It does not need a supply of un¬ 
diluted oxygen. Magnesium is a silvery-white 
metal, very light and quite abundant. We can 
purchase it at any chemical supply house in the 
form of ribbon. It is called magnesium ribbon. 
In this form it burns very readily if brought in 
contact with a match. If we light it, however, we 
must not rtin the risk of burned fingers by holding 
it in our hands, because it is consumed very rap¬ 
idly, producing a dazzling white flame. After the 
metal has been consumed by the flame, we find in 
its place a white powder. It is not difficult to 
guess what this powder may be. We know that 
during the process of combustion oxygen is 
combining with the metal, and therefore the white 
powder that was left behind is magnesium oxide. 

We have all been present when a flash-light 


THE CHEMICAL STORY OF METALS 99 


photograph has been made, and perhaps many of 
us have used flash-light powder in taking indoor 
pictures. The active element in this flash-light 
powder is magnesium. It is ground up and mixed 
with certain other ingredients. When ignited it 
explodes violently, producing a blinding white 
flash, which makes possible the taking of indoor 
pictures. 

T 

Metals That Explode 

Who would believe that there is a metal that 
will cause an explosion when brought in contact 
with water? There is such a metal, and that 
metal is called sodium. When we buy sodium 
from the chemical supply house it will be sent to 
us carefully sealed in a tin can, with all the joints 
and cover soldered. Sodium must be kept in a 
closed place where it will be prevented from com¬ 
ing in contact with oxygen or the moisture of the 
air. If allowed to make contact with moist air— 
and all air is moist to a certain extent—there will 
accumulate on its surface a frosty white powder, 
and the sodium as a metal will gradually dis¬ 
appear as this process makes way. Therefore, 
we must keep our sodium in a bottle with wax 
poured over the top. 

Those who take pride in their jack-knives and 


100 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


keep the blades sharp do not usually relish the 
thought of cutting metal with them. However, 
in the case of sodium we can cut it very easily, for 
it is soft and putty-like. The blade of our knife 
will go through it easily with the application of 
very little pressure. (Do not handle sodium 
with bare fingers.) 

We are now going to try an experiment that 
shows how violently sodium will be attacked by 
water. We first place some water in a dish-pan 
and then cut off a piece of sodium a little larger 
than the tip of the lead in a lead-pencil. We drop 
the sodium into the water. It floats on the sur¬ 
face, and as soon as it comes in contact with the 
water it will begin to sizzle and dash around in 
the fashion of a water-bug. It will continue this 
process until it finally disappears. Now let us 
take a larger piece of sodium, say a piece about 
the size of the eraser on our pencil. Let us throw 
this piece into the pan and quickly step back ten 
or fifteen feet, for there is going to be a mild ex¬ 
plosion. When the sodium strikes the water it 
will instantly burst into flame. Just think of it— 
metal burning in water! What an odd fact! The 
metal will burn for a few seconds in this way, and 
suddenly there will be a sharp report followed by 
a splash of water. 


THE CHEMICAL STORY OF METALS 101 


Here is an interesting case to analyze. What 
made the sodium burn, and what caused the explo¬ 
sion? If we are at all inquisitive, we shall want 
to know these things. It will probably be best for 
us first to trace the chemical action that took 
place when the sodium struck the water. It fol¬ 
lows: 


2Na + H 2 0 - 2NaOH + H 


Sodium + water = sodium hydroxide + hydrogen 


We see that we have produced a base here, since 
NaOH, or sodium hydroxide, appears as one of 
the products of the reaction. But that does not 
explain the explosion. What is that little H do¬ 
ing at the end of the equation? Does that 
account for the explosion? It does. Some time 
ago we were told that hydrogen and oxygen, when 
brought together in a mixture, are highly explo¬ 
sive. In the reaction caused by the burning so¬ 
dium, the hydrogen is set free; and it mixes with 
the oxygen in the air, forming an explosive mix¬ 
ture. The heat from the burning sodium ignites 
the mixture, and an explosion follows. So we see 
that it is really not the sodium that explodes. 


Potassium, Another Metal that Burns in Water 

Potassium is a sister-metal to sodium, and it 
bears many of its properties. Like sodium, it is 


102 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


very sensitive to moisture, and it produces hy¬ 
drogen and potassium hydroxide when it is 
brought in contact with water. In Figure 40 we 
see how potassium and sodium act when they are 
placed in a pan of water. 

The Metal Zinc 

Zinc is important because so manyi uses have 
been found for it. Take galvanized iron, for in¬ 
stance. Galvanized iron is nothing but sheet- 
iron covered with a layer of zinc. The zinc is put 


on to prevent the sheet-iron 
from rusting. Zinc itself 



does not rust. By this we 
mean that it does not com¬ 
bine readily with oxygen 


Fig. 40 


as iron does. As we probably know, zinc is a 
silvery-appearing metal. If it is dropped into an 
acid it will be attacked instantly and a salt will be 
formed. By way of experiment, let us drop a 
small piece of zinc into a beaker with a small 
amount of hydrochloric acid in it. The acid at¬ 
tacks the metal and leaves zinc chloride in solu¬ 
tion. We can obtain zinc chloride as a 'white 
solid by evaporating the solution down to dry¬ 
ness. 






THE CHEMICAL STORY OF METALS 103 


Many Other Metals 

There are many other useful metals, hut we can¬ 
not deal with all of them. The most interesting 
metals have been covered. There are, however, a 
number of other metals to which we should at 
least have a passing introduction. Take the 
metal tin, for example. Tin is of a white, silvery 
luster, and, like zinc, it will prevent rust. What 
we usually call sheet-tin is really iron with a thin 
coat of tin over it. The iron is simply dipped into 
molten tin. 

Lead is another interesting metal, and inciden¬ 
tally the heaviest of all. “As heavy as lead” is 
a common expression, and it is used because lead 
is really the heaviest common metal. If we drop 
a piece of lead into hydrochloric, nitric, or sul¬ 
phuric acid we shall be surprised to find that.it 
remains virtually unaffected by the acid. Chem¬ 
ists have found that lead is quite independent 
in this way, and the strongest acids affect it very 
little. 


CHAPTER VIII 


EXPERIMENTS 

Now that some of the mysteries of chemistry 
have been explained to ns, let ns set about to 
conduct some experiments. This will give us an 
opportunity to put some of our chemical knowl¬ 
edge to use. Many, many hours can be whiled 
away planning and executing these fascinating 
experiments, and incidentally they will give us a 
still greater understanding of our subject. 

Fire On Ice 

Let us first build a chemical fire on ice. That 
sounds interesting. To do this we must have a 
little calcium carbide, which we can obtain at 
most garages, since it is the substance used in 
acetylene lamps. It has a grayish appearance 
and comes in small lumps. We place a few of 
these lumps on a block of ice. If we leave them 
there a few minutes we shall notice that a chem¬ 
ical action is taking place, and the ice begins to 
melt. At this point let us strike a match and 
bring it in contact with the carbide. Appar- 

104 


EXPERIMENTS 


105 


ently the carbide will be ignited, and it will burn 
with a bright but smoky flame. It will look as if 
the ice itself was burning. In reality a gas is 
burning, and that gas is acetylene. Acetylene is 
always generated when calcium carbide is brought 


m contact with water, 
placed on the ice, 
there is just enough 
water there to start 
the reaction that 

produces the acety- _ 

lene. As the action 
progresses more 
heat is developed, 
and consequently 
the ice melts. In Figure 
iment is conducted. 


When the carbide is 



we see how the exper- 


A Miniature Volcano 

Now we are going to conduct an experiment in 
spontaneous combustion. To play safe, we must 
be sure to perform it out of doors. When fire¬ 
men do not know the cause of a fire they usually 
guess that it is u spontaneous combustion.” This 
is nothing but a fire that starts itself in places 
where too much heat is generated. All we need 
is five cents’ worth of glycerine and five cents’ 







106 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


worth of permanganate of potash, which we can 
obtain at the corner drag-store. The perman¬ 


ganate is composed of little dark violet crystals. 
We put two teaspoonfuls of these crystals into our 
mortar and grind them very fine with our pestle. 
We now put this fine powder in a little pile and 
make a slight depression or hole at the top of the 
pile. We now drop into this hole a few drops of 
the glycerine. After this we just stand by and 

watch results. Before we 

yO -V 

have a chance to become 
disappointed we shall no¬ 
tice that the glycerine be¬ 
gins to bubble. Finally it 
begins to smoke, and, pres¬ 
to! in a flash the whole mass bursts into flame. 
The little pile of permanganate looks like a minia¬ 
ture volcano. Here is a case of combustion 
caused by oxidation. Potassium permanganate 
is a very powerful oxidizer. In Figure 42 we se.e 
the experiment pictured. 



GLYCERINE 


P«MANG,A/tf/ATE 
or rcTASrt 


Fio. 42 


A Tree of Lead 

In Figure 43 we shall see pictured a very in¬ 
teresting experiment, which any amateur chem¬ 
ist can succeed in performing. We first place an 
ounce of sugar of lead (Beware; Poison!) in a 




EXPERIMENTS 


107 


quart of water and shake it well, allowing the 


resulting solution to re¬ 
main in a quiet place 
for three or four days. 

After it has settled, we 
pour off the clear solu¬ 
tion into another bottle 
and suspend a piece of 
zinc in it. We now put 
this away for a few days 
more, and when we look at it at the end of that 
time we shall notice that a sort of lead tree with 
numerous branches has attached itself to that 
piece of zinc. 



^SOGAC OF l£AO Sol . 
27NC PLATE 


Fig. 43 


A Pretty Experiment 

Here is a fascinating experiment. Let us place 
two or three inches of ordinary sand in the bot¬ 
tom of our largest beaker. 
On the sand we place some 
pieces of copper sulphate, 
aluminum sulphate, and 
iron sulphate. Over these 
we pour a solution of so¬ 
dium silicate (or water-glass) one part, to three 
parts of water. Then we shall have to be patient 
and wait for seven or eight days, after which time 



SULPHATE? 














108 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


we shall find in our beaker substances with many 
and varied colors. This experiment is illustrated 
in Figure 44. 

Secret Irik 

With invisible ink a boy can carry on secret 
communication with his friends. To make this 
ink, all we need is a solution of sal ammoniac, or 
ammonium chloride, as the chemists call it. Five 
cents’ worth of this, bought at the corner drug¬ 
store, will be sufficient for our purpose. We 
make a strong solution of this by dissolving it in 
hot water. We put the solution in our ink-bottle 
and use it in place of ordinary ink. We will have 
to have a sure-fire pen, however, because we can¬ 
not see the writing we produce. After the solu¬ 
tion has dried on the paper we shall find that it 
is impossible to read what we have 1 written. If 
we can read it, something is wrong, and we shall 
add a little water to our solution. After the 
proper point has been reached we can use it with 
no fear of any one’s being able to read our mes¬ 
sage. Now, if we want to read it, we need only 
hold the paper over a fire or press it with a hot 
flat-iron. When we do this the sal ammoniac 

i 

writing comes out in a strong dark color, which 
we can read without any trouble. 


EXPERIMENTS 


109 


A Chemical Snowstorm 

Here is a very beautiful experiment and one 
that we will remember for a long time if we take 
the pains to conduct it properly. To a solution 
of potash iodide we add a solution of sugar of 
lead in water. We must take care in handling 
this sugar of lead, since it is a deadly poison. 
Five cents’ worth of it purchased at the drug¬ 
store will be enough for the experiment. When 
we bring these solutions together a deep orange- 
yellow powder will be precipitated. After the 
powder stops falling we let the solution settle and 
pour off the top, which should be clear. We then 
add just enough boiling water to dissolve the 
powder and then permit the solution to cool. As 
it is cooling, little golden crystals of iodide of lead 
will fall to the bottom. The effect is like a storm 
of gold-dust. 

Chemical Vegetation 

We are now ready to perform a very weird 
series of experiments. We are going to cause 
chemical plants to grow. That may sound queer, 
but we shall soon see what is meant by it. We 
shall make a sort of chemical flower-garden. For 
the first experiment we use a solution of water- 


110 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


glass or sodium silicate, which is available at 
the drug-store. The solution is formed with two 
parts of sodium silicate to one part of water. 
Now, if we are to plant chemical gardens, we must 
have chemical seeds from which to grow our 
chemical flowers and trees. Our chemical seeds 
are going to be made of the following sub¬ 
stances : cobalt nitrate, manganese sulphate, 
nickel nitrate, and aluminum sulphate. First, let 

us drop a seed of the 
aluminum sulphate in¬ 
to our solution of sodi¬ 
um silicate. The seeds 
in every case should be 
about the size of a pea. 
If we watch the solution 
for a few seconds we 
shall see little sprouts begin to form, and our 
chemical plant commences to grow rapidly. 
Branches shoot out this way and that, and in a 
few moments we have before us a most beautiful 
structure. (See Figure 45.) 

Now let us drop a small seed of cobalt nitrate 
into a clean solution of sodium silicate. Here 
we shall see a different kind of plant grow. Into 
another beaker we place a seed of nickel nitrate 
and in another a seed of manganese sulphate. Wfe 









EXPERIMENTS 


111 


shall be amused with the beautiful results ob¬ 
tained. Here are a series of experiments that we 
can spend hours in performing. The results will 
always be different, and chemical plants of a mul¬ 
titude of different shapes can be created. As a 
final experiment let us drop into a beaker several 
of the chemical seeds. The result mil be an in¬ 
tricate and complicated vegetation. 

Although these chemical plants have the ap¬ 
pearance of real plants, they are nevertheless 
quite lifeless. So far, man has been unable to 
create life. 

Changing Water to Wine 

Here is a chemical trick that will surely mystify 
our friends. Magicians do it on the stage a great 
deal, and the audience is always puzzled. We 
first mix up a very weak alkaline solution. This 
can be done by dissolving a little sodium hydrox¬ 
ide or potassium hydroxide in a pitcher of water. 
We then take two glasses, and in the bottom of 
one we place a few drops of our indicator phe- 
nolphthalein. (Figure 46.) In the bottom of the 
other glass we place a few drops of acid. We ex¬ 
plain to our audience that we are going to change 
the water in the pitcher to wine and then change 
the wine back to water. As we pour the alka- 


112 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


line solution, which is perfectly colorless, into the 

glass containing the phenolphthalein, the solution 
instantly becomes a deep wine red. By experi- 



Fig. 46 


ment we must place just the proper amount of 
acid in the second glass, so that when, we pour 
the red solution into the second glass there will 
be enough acid there to overcome the alkali and 
produce an acid solution. The color will then in¬ 
stantly change back from red to white, and thus 
a miracle is performed. 

How to Firepi'oof 

We all know that such things as cotton and 
paper are highly inflammable. Many things like 
celluloid are inflammable to the point of being 
actually dangerous. The chemist, however, has 
been able successfully to combat high inflamma- 














EXPERIMENTS 


113 


bility, and non-inflammable substances of all 
kinds are to-day among the common things that 
have been made possible through the miracle of 
chemistry. 

Let us try a fireproofing experiment with cot¬ 
ton wool. Cotton will burst into flame with the 
least excuse, and many fires have been caused in 
this way. First, we mix up a strong solution of 
alum. About two ounces of alum are used to a 
pint of water. Heating the water a trifle will 
help the alum to dissolve. When the solution is 
clear and free from solid matter we soak the cot¬ 
ton in it. After the pieces of cotton are well 
soaked we place them away where they will dry. 
After they have dried we can determine the de¬ 
gree in which they are fire-proof by touching a 
lighted match to them. It will only be with great 
difficulty and by constant application of the match 
that we can make the cotton burn at all. If the 
match is touched to a non-treated piece of cotton, 
however, it will flare up instantly and the flame 
will consume it rapidly. 

We can also treat paper and other substances 
with our fireproofing solution. 

Celluloid burns very rapidly, and the solution 
which we just made is unsuited for fireproofing 
this material. To make non-inflammable cellu- 


114 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


loid, we first dissolve ordinary celluloid in ace¬ 
tone. We can obtain a small amount of acetone 
at the corner drug-store, and twenty-five grams 
will be sufficient. Into this we place approxi¬ 
mately twenty-five grams of ordinary celluloid. 
We then dissolve in a separate beaker fifty grams 
of magnesium chloride in 150 grams of alcohol. 
Then we place this mixture into the beaker con¬ 
taining the dissolved celluloid. After the vola¬ 
tile solvents (alcohol and acetone) have evapo¬ 
rated, the resulting mixture is a celluloid that is 
absolutely non-inflammable. We can try it by 
applying a match to it. We must make sure, 
however, that the alcohol and acetone have 
been allowed to evaporate before we apply the 
match. 

How to Make Cement 

If any of the favorite china is broken, we can 
mix up a batch of porcelain cement that will 
repair it. We first take the white of an egg and 
beat it up with an equal quantity of water, and 
then we add enough slacked lime to make a paste. 
The cement is then formed, and we must use it 
immediately. Of course it is allowed to set and 
dry. 

Here is another cement equally good. First, 


EXPERIMENTS 


115 


we mix the white of an egg with plaster of Paris 
and add one quarter of the weight of the mass 
of freshly slacked lime. 

To make this particular kind of cement we will 
need alcohol, sandarac, mastic, and turpentine. 
All of these ingredients can be purchased at the 
drug-store, which is our chief source of supply. 
We first dissolve the mastic and the sandarac in 
the alcohol and then add the turpentine. We stir 
the mixture with our glass rod. Incidentally, it 
would be best to mix this in an old tin can, since 
it would be most difficult to wash it out of our 
beaker. After this we prepare a solution of 
equal parts of glue and isinglass by soaking each 
in 125 parts of cold water. After the material 
has become softened, the excess water is poured 
off. The resulting mixture is melted in a water- 
bath. W T hile it is melting we should heat the 
other mixture that we prepared, and when it is 
warmed up we mix it with the hot glue solution. 
We have as a result a waterproof cement that is 
exceptionally good. 

Imitation Ivory 

A chemist can do almost anything. To-day we 
have strawless straw, butterless butter, cowless 
milk, and orangeless orange-juice. We can also 


116 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

have ivoryless ivory, and it can be made in a very 
few minutes. We first take some finely ground 
isinglass or mica and mix it with egg-shells into 
a paste with alcohol. After this mixture is 
warmed it can be molded into various shapes, and 
after it has dried it bears a very strong resem¬ 
blance to ivory. We can also make little molds 
for the material, but we should take care to oil 
the surface of the molds so that the imitation 
ivory will not stick after it has hardened. 

A Metal That Melts in Hot Water 

To obtain the materials for this experiment it 
may be necessary either to visit or send to a large 
chemical supply house. We are going to make a 
metal that melts very easily; so easily, in fact, 
that boiling water will bring the metal to the 
liquid state. This metal is sometimes called 
Wood’s metal. We first mix four ounces of the 
metal bismuth in a small crucible heated by a 
Bunsen flame. The bismuth melts very easily, 
and after it is in the liquid state we place in the 
crucible two and one half ounces of lead and then 
one and one half ounces of tin. The mixture is 
stirred well and allowed to remain heated for 
fifteen to twenty minutes. Before it cools we 
pour some of it out into little wooden molds, 


EXPERIMENTS 


117 


which can be formed by merely cutting a groove 
in a board with a small gouge. We pour the 
metal into the groove and allow it to cool. We 
then place some water in a beaker and bring it to 
the boiling-point over the Bunsen flame. After 
the water is boiling we insert the metal, and we 
shall be surprised to find that it melts when it 
is brought in contact with the water. This means 
that it has a melting-point in the neighborhood of 
212 degrees Fahrenheit, for that is the point at 
which water boils. 

Practical jokes have often been played by 
chemists who have made up spoons of Wood’s 
metal. Such spoons, placed in cups of hot tea, 
sometimes melt or become so soft that they can¬ 
not be used. This always amazes the layman, 
and he cannot understand how metal that looks 
like silver can be melted in hot water. 

Making Liquid Court-Plaster 

We have probably all heard of liquid court- 
plaster. It is a thick syrupy fluid that we place 
on cuts. When the mixture dries, a rubbery, 
transparent film is made, which protects a cut 
from infection. We can make a good substitute 
for this material by first mixing equal parts of 
ether and banana oil together. To this we add 


118 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


some celluloid shavings. After the celluloid 
shavings have been dissolved, the material is 
ready for application. We can put it in a small 
stoppered bottle and place it away, since it may 
come in handy some time. 

A Mystifying Experiment 
Here is a clever chemical trick that will keep 
some of our friends guessing a long time before 
they are able to solve it. Let us describe the 
trick before we actually set about to duplicate it. 
We use two test-tubes, and one should be a trifle 
larger than the other. They are shown to the 
audience, and the audience sees a transparent 
colorless liquid in one and a white powder like 
flour in the other. No fear need be had if some 
one in the audience wishes to examine the tubes. 
The tubes are then taken, and the thumbs are 
placed over the openings of each. The tubes are 
shaken violently. After this shaking the au¬ 
dience will be surprised to find that the white 
powder and the colorless liquid have changed 
places. The colorless liquid will be found in the 
tube that contained the white powder and the 
powder will be in the tube that contained the 
liquid. 


EXPERIMENTS 119 

The chemist does not need to resort to “the- 
hand-is-quicker-than-the-eye ’ ’ method here to fool 
people. In onr little trick we use a solution 
called salol. This we can buy in any well stocked 
drug-store, and ten grams will be sufficient. 
This we place in a clean, dry test-tube, and no 
crystals must be left adhering to the walls of 
the tube. The salol is then melted over a flame 
until it becomes liquid. It is then ready for the 
experiment, and we must use it within two or 
three hours after it is heated. So long as the 
solution is left undisturbed it will remain a li¬ 
quid, but if we place a thumb on the top of the 
test-tube and shake it violently the liquid will 
change into a solid. The cause of this is 
unknown, but it nevertheless forms a striking 
experiment. 

In our other test-tube we place some camphor 
gum and some of the solid chloral hydrate. The 
tw r o chemicals are finely ground before placing 
them in the tube, and it is well to sprinkle the 
camphor with a few drops of alcohol while it is 
being ground. The mixture is made of two parts 
of camphor and one part of chloral hydrate. If 
we place a thumb over this test-tube and shake it 
vigorously, the whole mixture changes to a liquid. 


120 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

This is a mystifying experiment and will cause 
no end of wonderment to those who witness it. 


/ALUMINIUM 


An Experiment with Aluminum 
Aluminum is a very interesting metal in many 
ways. There was a time when it was as scarce 
as platinum, but the chemists got to 'work and 
found a way of producing it so cheaply that it 
found wide use in the workaday world. 

Let us place a little mercury in a 
test-tube. A few drops will do. 
Then we find a cork that will fit the 
test-tube and place in the cork a 
small strip of sheet aluminum as il¬ 
lustrated in Figure 47. The strip 
of aluminum should be brightly pol¬ 
ished and free from grease or for- 
meecuby eign matter. After the aluminum is 
inserted in the test-tube with the 
cork the tube and contents are 
shaken violently for two or three 
minutes. We then remove the aluminum and im¬ 
merse it in water contained in a small vessel. 
When the aluminum comes in contact with the 
water it will immediately begin to decompose, and 
bubbles will rise rapidly to the surface. These 
are bubbles of hydrogen. 


CZD 


Fig. 47 









EXPERIMENTS 


121 


• Burning under Water 

Here is a most absorbing experiment which 
may be conducted by any amateur chemist who 
knows how to handle the element phosphorus. It 
will be remembered that phosphorus was men¬ 
tioned as the substance that burns immediately it 
comes in contact with the air. It is, therefore, 
necessary to keep it in oil. 

For this experiment we need a teaspoonful of 
strong commercial sulphuric acid and a few crys¬ 


tals of potassium 
chlorate together 
with a small piece 
of phosphorus. 
The apparatus ar¬ 
ranged for the ex¬ 
periment is pic¬ 
tured in Figure 48. 
Here we see a 
beaker and an or¬ 
dinary thistle-tube, 
which can be had 
for a few pennies 
from any chemical 



SULPHURIC acid 


^-POTASSIUM CHLORATE 

^phosphorus 


Fig. 48 


dealer. The beaker is filled three quarters 
full with water, and a teaspoonful of potas- 









122 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

sium chlorate crystals are dropped in. The 
crystals will sink to the bottom, and we shall al¬ 
low them to remain undissolved. We then drop 
in about half a dozen pieces of phosphorus, which 
are about the size of a green pea. The phos¬ 
phorus may be cut under water, but we should not 
attempt to cut it while exposed to the air. With 
the thistle-tube in the position shown in this 
sketch, about 10 c.c. of sulphuric acid is poured 
down through it into the water in the beaker. As 
soon as this reaches the bottom of the beaker a 
crackling sound is heard, and the whole of the 
lower part of the glass becomes alive with dart¬ 
ing tire. After the action subsides we can renew 
it by adding a little more sulphuric acid. 

Another Volcano 

Those of us who like spectacular experiments 
will be interested in trying out this one: First, 
we procure a fairly large-sized test-tube and fill 
it to a depth of about one half inch with crystals 
of potassium permanganate. To this we add 
some strong sulphuric acid, just enough to bring 
the mixture up to a height of about an inch in the 
tube. The mixture is then warmed gently over a 
light flame, or, better yet, in hot water. We now 
drop in little strips of newspaper, and as they 


EXPERIMENTS 


123 


reach the liquid they will take fire, and every few 
seconds they will be thrown out into the atmos¬ 
phere as pieces of soot. The fire and the minia¬ 
ture volcano can be continued by dropping in 
more paper. This experiment is illustrated in 
Figure 49. 





Fig. 49 


An Experiment with Iodine 

With a small amount of io¬ 
dine (about one fourth ounce) 
and a little phosphorus we can 
perform an interesting experi¬ 
ment. We place a few small 
pieces of the phosphorus on a 
and drop on it a few 
crystals of iodine. If we wait 
a second or two the iodine and 
the phosphorus will burst into 
flame. This is one of the few 
instances in chemistry where 
two solids burn when they 


MIXTURE. POTASSIUM , , 

pecmanganate 
SULPHURIC ACID. 


are brought together. 


An Experiment in Color 
Let us mix up a solution of iodine by putting a 
few crystals in water and shaking them for a 
few minutes until the entire solution is brown in 





124 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


color. Then we add to this a few pieces of ordi¬ 
nary white starch, but the starch is first dissolved 
in cold -water, and a little warm water is added. 
•We weakenj this starch solution by adding to it 
about 150 c.c. of water. To this we then add a 
few drops of the iodine solution, and the liquid 
will change to a beautiful blue color. This blue 
color is due to the formation of a compound 
called iodide of starch. What is most startling 
about this experiment, however, is the fact that 
the original color of the solution, which was 
white, can be restored by simply heating it over 
a flame. 


Red Crystals That Burn 

Let us begin another experiment by making a 
strong solution of bichromate of potash, which 
we can obtain at the corner drug-store. After 
the water is heated, little trouble will be had in 
making a strong solution. We then carefully 
pour into this solution a few cubic centimeters of 
strong sulphuric acid, making sure none of the 
acid splashes out, and allow the mixture to cool. 
Little light-red crystals will separate out. 
We take these crystals out of the solution and 
allow them to dry. Then if we drop a little alco¬ 
hol on the crystals they will take fire and burn 


EXPERIMENTS 


127 


leave it there very long because of the cold. Al¬ 
though the solution remains liquid, it is still much 
colder than ice. 

A Liquid from Two Solids 

Here is a mystifying experiment that will cause 
our non-chemical friends no little wonderment. 
We need some sugar of lead and some sulphate 
of soda. The sulphate of soda is obtained in 
crystal form, and before proceeding with the ex¬ 
periment it will be necessary to grind it well in 
our mortar. We simply mix equal parts of the 
two substances together, and, lo and behold! in¬ 
stead of two solids we have a liquid! This is a 
never failing experiment, which is bound to estab¬ 
lish us as a chemical wizard. 

A Magic Picture 

Here is another trick that we can try on our 
unsuspecting friends. First, we must find a pho¬ 
tograph of a young lady, and we paint her hands 
and cheeks with a solution of the phenolphthalein 
indicator, which was mentioned in an earlier part 
of this book. The solution is made up of alcohol 
and water. After it is placed on the photograph 
it is allowed to dry. Then if we place the photo¬ 
graph in strong fumes of ammonia, which may 


m BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


color. Then we add to this a few pieces of ordi¬ 
nary white starch, but the starch is first dissolved 
in cold water, and a little warm water is added. 
We weaken; this starch solution by adding to it 
about 150 c.c. of water. To this we then add a 
few drops of the iodine solution, and the liquid 
will change to a beautiful blue color. This blue 
color is due to the formation of a compound 
called iodide of starch. What is most startling 
about this experiment, however, is the fact that 
the original color of the solution, which was 
white, can be restored by simply heating it over 
a flame. 


Red Crystals That Burn 

Let us begin another experiment by making a 
strong solution of bichromate of potash, which 
we can obtain at the corner drug-store. After 
the water is heated, little trouble will be had in 
making a strong solution. We then carefully 
pour into this solution a few cubic centimeters of 
strong sulphuric acid, making sure none of the 
acid splashes out, and allow the mixture to cool. 
Little light-red crystals will separate out. 
We take these crystals out of the solution and 
allow them to dry. Then if we drop a little alco¬ 
hol on the crystals they will take fire and burn 


EXPERIMENTS 


127 


leave it there very long because of the cold. Al¬ 
though the. solution remains liquid, it is still much 
colder than ice. 

A Liquid from Two Solids 

Here is a mystifying experiment that will cause 
our non-chemical friends no little wonderment. 
We need some sugar of lead and some sulphate 
of soda. The sulphate of soda is obtained in 
crystal form, and before proceeding with the ex¬ 
periment it will be necessary to grind it well in 
our mortar. We simply mix equal parts of the 
two substances together, and, lo and behold! in¬ 
stead of two solids we have a liquid! This is a 
never failing experiment, which is bound to estab¬ 
lish us as a chemical wizard. 

A Magic Picture 

Here is another trick that we can try on our 
unsuspecting friends. First, we must find a pho¬ 
tograph of a young lady, and we paint her hands 
and cheeks with a solution of the phenolphthalein 
indicator, which was mentioned in an earlier part 
of this book. The solution is made up of alcohol 
and water. After it is placed on the photograph 
it is allowed to dry. Then if we place the photo¬ 
graph in strong fumes of ammonia, which may 


J28 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


come from the mouth of an ammonia bottle, the 
young lady’s cheeks will become rosy. 

A Sensitive Explosive 

This is a delicate experiment involving the use 
of an explosive; we must not make very much 
of it. We take about enough powdered iodine 
to place on a penny, and over it we pour 15 or 20 
c.c. of strong ammonia. We allow this to remain 
for eight or ten hours and afterward take the 
pieces out and allow them to dry. Warning: Do 
not attempt to pick up these crystals; they are 
highly explosive. In fact, all we have to do is 
tickle them with a feather or a piece of paper to 
set them off. If a fly walks over them the poor 
fly will be blown to atoms. This is one of the 
most sensitive explosives known to science. (See 
Figure 51.) 

A Beautiful Color Change 

Here is a chemical trick that is as beautiful as 
it is mystifying. We need two solutions. For 
one we dissolve ten grams of iodic acid in one 
liter of water. This will be sufficient for a num¬ 
ber of experiments. For the other solution we 
allow sulphur dioxide to bubble through water. 
Fifty cubic centimeters of water are needed, and 


EXPERIMENTS 


129 


we simply allow the gas to bubble through it. If 
we return to Chapter V we shall find described 
there a simple method of producing sulphur diox¬ 
ide abundantly. We now take two beakers and 
place about 250 c.c. of water in each one. To one 
beaker we add about 50 c.c. of the iodic acid so¬ 
lution, and to the other 50 c.c. of the sulphur 
dioxide solution. 

We now form 
some starch paste 
by boiling about 
as much starch as 
can be placed on a 
half of a penny in 
25 or 30 c.c. of wa¬ 
ter. A few drops 
of this specially 
prepared paste 
are added to the 
solution of iodic acid. The two solutions are then 
added together in a larger vessel, which should 
be transparent if the audience is to see and ap¬ 
preciate the effect produced. It will be necessary 
to stir the two solutions vigorously when they 
come together to assure a perfect mixture. 

The solution remains colorless for a few mo¬ 
ments, and the audience will think that nothing 



Fig. 51 






130 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

is going to happen, when, presto! the white liquid 
turns to a deep-blue color. If we take our watch 
and time the reaction from the moment we bring 
the two liquids together, this will serve as an 
accurate check, and for all future experiments we 
can use a magic wand. Then when we place the 
two liquids together we can wave our wand over 
them at the proper moment just as the color 
change comes. 


Using a Glass Rod, as a Match 

Here is an experiment that is well worth trying, 
since it is a good example of spontaneous com¬ 
bustion. In the bottom of a small beaker we 
place one gram of powdered potassium perman¬ 
ganate. This we moisten 
with a few drops of water 
"gmss d and afterward add 2 or 3 c.c. 

of concentrated sulphuric 
acid. The chemical action 
that results is very lively, 
and if we dip a glass rod 
into the mixture and touch 
the wet end of the glass rod 
to an alcohol lamp the wick will at once be ignited. 

How is this brought about! We have here a 
simple case of spontaneous combustion. The 



/UCOHOl 8U&N££ 


Fig. 52 



EXPERIMENTS 


131 


chemical reaction generates ozone, which is a 
concentrated form of oxygen, so that when 
the ozone comes in contact with the alcohol it 
at once oxidizes it, and a flame results. (Figure 
52.) 


Burning Metals 


Here is a beautiful experiment. It has to do 
with combustion again. First we set up a gen¬ 
erator of oxygen similar to the one we employed 
in the experiments described in an earlier portion 
of the book. We shall see this experiment illus¬ 
trated in Figure 53. The bottom of the jar is 
sprinkled with a thin film of 



very fine iron filings or zinc 
dust. The rubber tube carries 
oxygen into the jar, and after 
the jar is full of oxygen we 
can blow through another tube 


OR ZINC 
flUN&S. 



so that the metal dust in the 
bottom of the jar will be dis- Fig 53 
turbed and will fill the interior. 

We now remove the two tubes and apply a match 
to the mouth of the receptacle. We shall be sur¬ 
prised to see the metal burn. In fact, the effect 
is so marked and the resulting fire so brilliant that 
it may be necessary to protect our eyes. 




132 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


Chemical S m oke-Rings 
The apparatus illustrated in Figure 54 will 
enable us to conduct a few instructive experi¬ 
ments. Two of the bottles shown have had their 
bottoms taken out. This may be done with an 
old three-cornered tile, by tiling a thin line around 
the bottles and tapping the bottoms with a ham¬ 
mer until they break off. 
When the little cock be¬ 
tween the bottles is closed, 
hydrochloric acid gas is 

placed in the 

SODIUM CHLORIDE 

mo sulphuzic/xid upper bottle, 

and this may 
be generated in suffi¬ 
cient quantities for 
this purpose by the 
method described in 
an earlier chapter. 
Ammonia gas, which 
we also know how to generate, is placed in the 
lower bottle. After the two bottles have been 
filled with the gases, we open the little cock and 
allow the ammonia gas to rise into the bottle of 
hydrochloric acid gas. As it does this, little 
smoke-rings will be formed with perfect accuracy. 



P'ig. 54 


























Courtesy “Science and Invention” 

Analyzing with the flame 



Courtesy' "science ana mveuuvu 

Young chemist experimenting with the blow-pipe 



















. 































I • 



























EXPERIMENTS 


133 


The National Colors 

The next experiment we cannot afford to miss. 
First we must have a pitcher full of clear water, 
and to this we should add a few cubic centimeters 
of ferric chloride. It will be necessary to stir the 
mixture well. We now place on the table three 
tumblers, and in the first one we conceal a few 
drops of a solution of ammonium sulphocyanate. 
We leave the second glass empty, but in the third 
we conceal a few drops of potassium ferrocyanide 
solution. (Note: These chemicals are poison.) 
Then we explain to our audience that we are go¬ 
ing to produce the American national colors by 
simply pouring our colorless solution into the 
glasses before us. Imagine how surprised the 
audience will be when the first glass turns out to 
be red, the second one white, and the third blue. 

A Chemical Gun 

The apparatus set up in Figure 55 will enable 
us to perform an experiment that will require us 
to move carefully. First we fit a hydrogen gen¬ 
erator, such as that shown, with a stopper and a. 
funnel. In the bottom of the generator we place 
a small amount of red phosphorus, and this we 
moisten with water. A little liquid bromine is 


134 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


placed in the funnel; very careful handling and 
pouring are necessary. When the stop-cock 
(not shown in the illustration) of the funnel is 
opened and a few drops of the bromine are al¬ 
lowed to fall upon the phosphorus, a flash will be 
produced, and a puff of vapor will come forth 
from the neck of the bottle much as a gun ex¬ 
plodes. 


Floating Soap-Bubbles in Gas 

The next is really an experiment in physics, 

although we 
must resort to 
our chemistry 
to perform it. 
First, we go 
back to our 
carbon dioxide 
generator and 
rig it up again 
for service. 
We allow the 
gas to accumu¬ 
late in the bot¬ 
tom of a large 
jar, and after 
th# jar has become half full of gas—a fact that we 









EXPERIMENTS 


135 


can determine by lowering a lighted candle into 
the jar—we blow some soap-bubbles with an or¬ 
dinary clay pipe and place them in the jar. If 
this is done carefully the 
bubbles will float around half¬ 
way up the jar on top of the bobble 
surface of the gas. We can¬ 
not see the gas but we can 
see the bubbles floating on it. 

The bubbles float on the gas 
because carbon dioxide is an 
extremely heavy gas, and the little bubbles ride 
on it in much the same way that a piece of wood 
floats on water. (Figure 56.) 



CAC0ON 
D/OX IDE 


Fig. 56 


An Experiment in Crystallization 

We can produce a beautiful ornamental basket 
that is bound to take the eye of every one. First, 
we make a saturated solution of alum. By “sat¬ 
urated” we mean that we dissolve alum in hot 
water until no more will dissolve. The solution 
is then said to be saturated. We then make a 
miniature basket from small pieces of wire, and 
we suspend this in the solution as illustrated in 
Figure 57. As the cooling of the solution pro¬ 
gresses a thick layer of tiny crystals will be de- 




136 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


posited upon the cold wire. Of course the bas¬ 
ket must be handled with care if it is to be pre¬ 
served for any length of time. 


ALUM 


How to Make a Mirror 
Making mirrors from ordinary glass is easy 
when one knows how. There is one precaution 
that must be taken: the materials we use must be 
scrupulously clean, as cleanliness is one of the 
first essentials of successful mirror making. 

First we dissolve five 

saturated grams of silver nitrate in 
^lut'on oe about 20 c.c. of distilled 

water. We pour 50 c.c. of 
this into another vessel and 
allow it to remain for a 
time. To the remainder we 
gradually add a strong so¬ 
lution of ammonia, stirring the mixture vigor¬ 
ously at the same time. At first a curdy precip¬ 
itate will appear, but as the ammonia is added 
this will be entirely redissolved. After this we 
filter the mixture and then add to it enough dis¬ 
tilled water to make about 500 c.c. of the solution. 
This we put in black bottles with well-fitting 
stoppers. If we do not have any black bottles 
we can paint some plain ones black. 



Fig. 57 











EXPERIMENTS 


139 


some chlorine and some hydrogen gas according 
to the methods outlined in an earlier part of the 
book. Next we would select a small, thick-walled 
bottle with a capacity of approximately an ounce 
and not larger. The writer warns the readers 
not to try this experiment, as we are describing 
the production of an explosion that might result 
disastrously if too large a quantity of the gases 
should be used. 

This work done, we would now place some 
hydrogen in the bottle and then pour in some 
chlorine so that there would be a mixture of the 
two gases in the bottle. 

The mixing of the gases would have to be 
done in a well shaded room wjiere no sunlight 
would be able to reach the bottle containing the 
two gases . We would take a piece of dark cloth 
and tie a long cord on it, being sure to keep 
the bottle stoppered during the preparation. 
Covering the bottle with the cloth we would carry 
it to the sunlight in the yard. We should un¬ 
cork it and move about fifty feet away, pulling 
the string with us so that we could pull the cloth 
away from the bottle. As soon as the sunlight 
strikes the two gases a violent explosion would 
take place. 


140 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


Although the actual mechanism of the effect of 
sunlight on two chemicals of this nature is not 
known by chemists, it is known that it is the ultra¬ 
violet light in the sun’s rays that causes the ac¬ 
tion to take place. 

That it is the ultra-violet light we can prove by 
another very simple experiment. We mix the 
two gases again in a small bottle and place the 
bottle back of an ordinary window-screen in the 
laboratory. We then light a piece of magnesium 
ribbon and allow it to burn so that the rays of 
light it produces fall directly upon the contents 
of the bottle. Another explosion takes place. 
When the metal magnesium burns a large amount 
of invisible light is produced, and it is these rays 
that are called the chemical rays because they al¬ 
ways induce chemical action. 

How Leaves “Breathe” Carbon Dioxide 

There is another interesting chemical action 
caused by light. We refer to the absorption of 
carbon dioxide by the leaves of plants, and the 
liberation of oxygen. Carbon dioxide, the heavy 
gas that we played with, is as necessary to plant 
life as oxygen is to human life. Plants breathe 
it, and after they take it in, the gas is broken up 
and free oxygen is sent forth. This process is 



NEGATIVE 


Fig. 61 


CHEMISTRY AND ELECTRICITY 147 

in Figure 62. When we do this, a most peculiar 
thing happens. We see rising from the wires 
great numbers of 
tiny little bubbles. 

These bubbles ap¬ 
pear as though they 
were boiling out of 
the wire, and once 
they become free 
of the wire they 
promptly make their way to the surface of the 
solution, where they disappear. 

The electric current from the battery, in pass¬ 
ing through the solution of sulphuric acid, has 
caused a chemical reaction to take place, which 
has resulted in the liberation of gas. If we are 

going to be real chem¬ 
ists we must satisfy 
our curiosity by col¬ 
lecting this gas in 
some way and analyz- 
acid ing it to discover its 
solution na ture. It is a very 

simple matter to col¬ 
lect these gases, and 
for the experiment we only need the simple ap¬ 
paratus sketched out in Figure 63. Here we see a 





Fig. 02 


















148 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

large dish containing a solution of sulphuric acid, 
made by pouring about 10 c.c. of acid into 125 c.c. 
of water, with two inverted test-tubes. At the bot¬ 


tom of each test- 
tube there is 
placed a small 
piece of carbon. 
These are called 
electrodes, and 
they are con- 


r\ r\ 



Fig. 63 


nected to the wires that lead to the battery. 
While the current is flowing through the solu¬ 
tion we shall notice that the same flood of tiny 
bubbles is leaving the electrodes or carbon 
pieces. In place of the tiny bubbles of gas escap¬ 
ing into the atmosphere, however, they are caged 
up in the ends of the test-tubes. As time goes on 
we shall find that the solution in the test-tube 
falls farther and farther and that it falls twice 
as fast in one tube as it does in the other. This 
is caused by an accumulation of gas pressure in 
the tubes, and it is evident that one of the gases 
is accumulating faster than the other, for it is 
occupying twice as much space. 

When an electric current passes through a 
chemical solution and causes a chemical reaction 
to take place, such as we have just witnessed, the 












CHEMISTRY AND ELECTRICITY 149 


process is called electrolysis. Although electrol¬ 
ysis sounds very scientific, it is a comparatively 
simple term, and when the chemist uses it he 
merely refers to a process whereby a chemical 
change takes place because of an influence that 
is due to the passage of an electric current. But 
this explanation does not tell us what the gases 
are that we have just generated by this means. 
Let us lift the tube that appears to contain twice 
as much gas as the other and bring to its mouth 
a lighted match. The gas will burn with a quiet, 
almost invisible blue flame at the mouth of the 
tube. There will be no odor, and therefore we 
decide that the gas we have just been burning is 
hydrogen. Now let us lift the other tube and hold 
a finger over the end of it until we have time to 
drop a glowing splinter of wood into the tube. 
We shall notice that the wood bursts into flame 
when it comes in contact with the gas, and there¬ 
fore we decide that we have oxygen in the tube. 
That is exactly the case. 

From the results of this experiment it is ev¬ 
ident that we have decomposed or broken up the 
water that was in our sulphuric acid solution. 
We decide this because the formula of water is 
H 2 0. We remember that the test-tube containing 
the hydrogen had twice as much gas in it as the 


150 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


one containing the oxygen. This is because the 
water contains twice as much hydrogen by volume 
as it does oxygen. 

Contrary to the general impression, water by 
itself is not a very good conductor of electricity. 
In fact, really pure water is a very bad conductor 
of electricity, and it is only when we add impu¬ 
rities to it that it becomes a conductor. When 
acids, like hydrochloric, sulphuric, or nitric, are 
added to water, it becomes a much better conduc¬ 
tor of electricity and allows the current to pass 
freely; but there always develops some sort of 
chemical reaction as a result of the passage of 
the current. 


How to Make Zinc 

We are now going to try a beautiful experiment 
in which we are to make some metallic zinc bv 
permitting an electric current to pass through a 
solution of zinc chloride. We know that the zinc 
chloride must contain zinc, but we are to find a 
way of getting this zinc out. We set the appara¬ 
tus up as shown in Figure 64. We notice that a 
IJ-tube is used, and into this tube we place a sat¬ 
urated solution of zinc chloride, a chemical that 
we can very easily obtain at the drug-store or 


CHEMISTRY AND ELECTRICITY 151 

chemical supply house. A few ounces of the zinc 
chloride will be sufficient for many experiments. 
We place in each side of the tube two little carbon 
blocks, which are in turn attached to the wires 
coming from our battery. When the current is 
allowed to pass through the zinc chloride solu¬ 
tion we shall notice the formation of gas bubbles 
at one of the carbon electrodes. After a while 
we shall also notice the formation of beautiful 
crystals of metallic zinc, which will accumulate 
around the opposite car¬ 
bon electrode. We can 
allow the current to pass 
until the action in the 
test-tube ceases. Then 
we can pour the liquid 
out of the tube and re¬ 
cover our metallic zinc. 

In Figure 65 we see 
the apparatus necessary for another most in¬ 
teresting experiment in the science of electro¬ 
chemistry, as this branch of chemistry is called. 
Here we have the reproduction of an experi¬ 
ment that was tried many, many years ago by 
Sir Humphrey Davy, who was one of the great 
early scientists. We first obtain a block of car- 















152 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

bon, and, if we cannot obtain this, an ordinary 
piece of tinplate copper or brass will do. To this 
plate we connect one of the terminals from onr 
battery of dry cells. Over the plate we place a 
small block of solid sodium hydroxide or caustic 
soda, as it is sometimes called. We must handle 
this very carefully, since it is not pleasant matter 
to work with. Into the surface of the sodium hy¬ 
droxide we gouge a small hole with a knife and 
place therein a few drops of water. We then fill 
the hole with a little mercury, or quicksilver as it 
is called by some. Into the mercury we drop the 


other wire from the 
battery. We watch 
the mercury for a lit¬ 
tle while, and if noth¬ 
ing happens we re¬ 
verse the battery con- 




Fig. 65 


nections. When the current is flowing in the right 
direction, the mercury gradually becomes hard¬ 
ened, and it appears as though it were changing 
in nature. Here is what happens: the sodium hy¬ 
droxide is losing its sodium because of the pas¬ 
sage of electric current, and the sodium is mixing 
itself up with the mercury, forming what is known 
as an amalgam. 









CHEMISTRY AND ELECTRICITY 153 


How to Electroplate 

Surely we have all heard of electroplating. We 
electroplate when we coat metallic objects like 
brass, copper, iron, and steel with films of nickel, 
silver, or gold. We call that nickel plating, sil¬ 
ver plating, and gold plating. We can also plate 
with copper; that is what we are going to 


COPPER 

PLATE 


SoiuncM 

eLUEVm&L 



do in this experi¬ 
ment. We are go¬ 
ing to take a 
small silver coin 
like a dime, or 
some other silver 
object, and plate 
it or cover it with 
the metal copper. 
To do this we 
only need the very simple apparatus pictured in 
Figure 66. Here we see a large beaker, the ar¬ 
ticle to be plated, a small copper plate, and a 
dry cell. If we look closely we shall notice that 
the copper plate in the solution in the beaker is 
connected to the positive or center pole of the 
battery. The solution contained in the beaker is 
a strong one of copper sulphate or blue vitriol. 


Fig. 66 














154 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

I 

In electroplating, cleanliness is the watchword. 
If we do not properly clean an object before we 
attempt to electroplate it we shall find that the 
plating will peel off from the surface of the metal 
on which it is placed. To prevent this we must 
clean our articles by boiling them in a solution 
of potassium carbonate, or potash. We do this to 
remove all traces of grease and dirt, and after 
we have the article cleaned we must take care 
not to handle it with our greasy fingers. 

We notice that our silver coin is hung on a cop¬ 
per wire. After we turn the current on we shall 
notice that the silver dime will rapidly change in 
color to a light pink, which is the natural color of 
pure copper. 

With this simple little apparatus we shall find 
it possible to give many articles a coating or plat¬ 
ing of copper. We must not forget in doing this 
that the copper sulphate or blue vitriol solution 
will not last for ever. It will gradually reach a 
state where it contains no more copper. When 
this happens we must immediately throw the old 
solution away and refill our jar or beaker with a 
freshly made one. 


CHAPTEK X 


CHEMISTRY AROUND THE HOUSEHOLD 

Oftentimes we find it possible to apply chem¬ 
ical knowledge in a practical way. For instance, 
adulterants that unscrupulous food manufac¬ 
turers put in their products can be detected with 
very little trouble. 

Sometimes the beautiful green color that bot¬ 
tled pickles have is given to them by allowing 
them to be boiled in a copper kettle. In this way 
a certain amount of copper associates itself with 
the pickle vinegar, and the beautiful green color 
is thus produced. The presence of this copper 
is injurious when taken internally, and it is our 
duty as chemists to see that we do not purchase 
pickles that contain it. 

The copper test for pickles is a simple one. 
First, we must obtain some clean iron nails. 
Several of these are placed in a receptacle, and 
vinegar is poured over them. We leave the nails 
in the vinegar overnight, and if we find in the 

morning that the nails are covered with a thin 

155 


156 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

layer of copper we know that the vinegar is 
not pnre. If, on the other hand, the nails are 
simply discolored a trifle, the vinegar is probably 
pure so far as copper is concerned. (See Fig¬ 
ure 67.) 

We shall now consider sugar. It must be 
confessed that it is difficult to adulterate sugar, 
but nevertheless it is done. The following simple 
test will help us to determine whether our sugar 
has been adulterated: First, we prepare a solu¬ 
tion of sugar, by boiling a 
a few teaspoonfuls in water. 
This solution is then placed 
in a thin, clear drinking- 
no. 67 glass. A printed sheet is 

then held up, and the glass 
containing the sugar solution is held between the 
paper and our eyes. If we can read the printed 
matter through the glass and the solution, the 
sugar is pure. If we cannot read it and the solu¬ 
tion is cloudy, the sugar is impure. We must, 
however, take paper that is printed in fairly 
large type, for the test would otherwise not be 
fair. 

We shall now check up the baker to see if he is 
being dishonest in his baking. Some bakers use 
cheap flour in their bread and then add alum to 












CHEMISTRY AROUND HOUSEHOLD 157 


give the bread a white, pure appearance. We 
shall treat the bread with ammonia carbonate, 
which we can purchase at the drug-store. The 
bread will turn to a very dark color if it is impure, 
but it will retain its original whiteness if good 
flour has been used. If the bread contains a large 
amount of alum, it is very injurious to the human 
system. 

The addition of a superfluous amount of salt in 
bread is another thing that we must look out for. 
Extra quantities of salt are sometimes added to 
keep the bread moist and to increase its weight. 
We can test bread for this condition in the follow¬ 
ing way: We shall cut a slice from the bread of 
which we are suspicious, and another slice from 
bread that we know to be pure. We will place 
both of these in the oven and heat them for some 
time. Then, by means of the kitchen scales, we 
can determine which is the heaviest. The heav¬ 
iest slice after this treatment will be the purest, 
because the moisture caused by the excessive salt 
in the impure slice will be driven out and the heat 
treatment will leave it very light. 

We all know that milk is one of the most impor¬ 
tant food-stuffs, and we have all heard the old 
joke about the milkman getting half of his milk 
out of the town pump. If we test milk, however, 


158 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


we will often find that the joke is really the sad 
truth, and no joke at all. To test milk for water, 
we must put one drop of formalin into a quarter 
of an ounce of milk. We then add a quarter of an 
ounce of pure sulphuric acid. If a blue color 
develops, the milk contains a considerable quan¬ 
tity of water. We can purchase our formalin for 
this test at the corner drug-store, and our sul¬ 
phuric acid we shall probably have on hand. 

Another trick of the dishonest milkman is to 
give us milk that is not fresh, but a day or more 
old. We have a test for this, also. Seven vol¬ 
umes of alcohol and three volumes of water are 
placed in a glass. An equal amount of milk is 
then placed in the alcohol solution and shaken 
vigorously. If the milk becomes cordy under 
this treatment it is not fresh; but if it retains 
its original form it may be regarded as fit for 
use. 

Next on our list of important food-stuffs, we 
can consider meat. To test meat, when we sus¬ 
pect that it is not up to standard, we place two 
drops of muriatic acid, six drops of grain 
alcohol, and two drops of ether in a test-tube. 
We put this mixture together with a medicine- 
dropper to be sure that we have exactly the 


CHEMISTRY AROUND HOUSEHOLD 159 

right quantities. We then place a small piece 
of the meat on a fork and bring it near the surface 
of the solution in the test-tube. Meat that is near 
the state of decay will be enveloped in a cloud of 
mist when subjected to this test. Fresh meat will 
retain its original appearance, and there will be 
no action when it is brought near the surface of 
the solution. 

One of the substances used to treat meat, for the 
purpose of preventing decay, is formaldehyde. 
It will bring about harmful results if taken in 
sufficient quantities. The test for it is a com¬ 
plicated one, and we must pay strict attention to 
business while we conduct it. 

First, we chop a piece of meat very fine and 
place about six teaspoonfuls of it in a flat-bot¬ 
tomed dish. We next fill a test-tube one third full 
of clean water, and forty drops of a 1 per cent 
solution of phenylhydrazine hydrochloride are 
added to the dish containing the meat. We then 
heat this sample in a double boiler for about five 
minutes. While this is heating we place in a test- 
tube twenty drops of a 5 per cent solution of 
potassium ferricyanide and sufficient hydrochloric 
acid to fill it one sixth full. Then a small glass 
bottle with a piece of cotton in it is set in the 


160 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


mouth of the tube, and when the contents of the 
dish have cooled they are strained into the tube 
through cotton. If the meat contained formal¬ 
dehyde in a dangerous quantity, the liquid in the 
tube will turn bright red after having stood for 
a few minutes. 

If the foregoing test does not show anything, 
there may be other impurities contained in the 
meat, and we shall now test for them. Sodium 
fluoride is another chemical that is sometimes 
found in meat. We can test for this by placing 
an ounce of finely ground meat in a dish and cov¬ 
ering it with milk of lime. We then set the dish 
over the hottest burner of the gas stove, first mak¬ 
ing sure that the outside of the dish is perfectly 
dry. This is boiled until the lime solution is 
evaporated and the meat burned up as far as pos¬ 
sible. When it has cooled we transfer the ashes 
to a lead dish and add to them three drops of 
water and one drop of concentrated sulphuric 
acid. A piece of glass coated with paraffin with 
a few lines scratched in it is held in readiness and 
laid over the dish. It is allowed to remain there 
half an hour. If the glass is etched or eaten away 
where the paraffin did not cover it, the meat 
contains a considerable amount of sodium flu¬ 
oride. 


CHEMISTRY AROUND HOUSEHOLD 161 


Detecting Wood-Alcohol 
Wood-alcohol is a deadly poison, and we must 
always avoid getting it close to the eyes, since it 
is destructive of the optic nerve. As dangerous 
as this wood-alcohol is, some manufacturers use 
it in place of grain-alcohol as a solvent for lemon 
extract. We can easily detect the presence of 
wood-alcohol in the following way: First, we 
heat a copper wire in the Bunsen burner and 
plunge it into a test-tube containing 
about 10 c.c. of lemon extract. The 
test-tube is placed in a bottle of cold 
water as illustrated in Figure 68. 
We repeat this process five or six 
times. Next we mix 1 c.c. of the 
treated lemon extract with half a 
Fm. 68 tumblerful of milk. We then pour 
into another test-tube about 3 c.c. of concentrated 
sulphuric acid, and place with it a few drops of 
a solution of ferric chloride. We then take this 
mixture and pour some of it down the side of the 
tumbler containing the milk. We pour this very 
carefully, only a tiny bit at a time. If a violet 
ring appears where the two liquids meet, the 
lemon extract contains a dangerous quantity of 
wood-alcohol and should be avoided in every way. 




CHAPTER XI 


HOW THE BOY CHEMIST CAN MAKE HIS 
OWN FIREWORKS 

The boy chemist can put his knowledge of chem¬ 
istry to a practical use in making his own fire¬ 
works for the Fourth of July celebration. There 
will not only be a good deal of fun in making the 
fireworks, but there will also be fun in using them. 
The materials that enter into their preparation 
are inexpensive and need not cost nearly so much 
as a supply of manufactured fireworks. 

Red Fire 

Colored fire is always attractive at night and 
can be used without any danger of accident. 
First, powder one part of potassium chlorate and 
eleven parts of strontium nitrate. These must 
be powdered separately. When this is done the 
two powders are placed together and mixed with 

four parts of flowers of sulphur and one half part 

162 


THE BOY CHEMIST 


163 


ol lamp-black. When this is done the preparation 
is ready for use, and it should be tightly corked 
up in a glass bottle until the time comes for its 
use. It is only necessary to ignite it with a piece 
of touch-paper. Touch-paper is a slow-burning 
paper used as a fuse and can be made by sat¬ 
urating strips of unsized paper in a concentrated 
solution of potassium nitrate. When the paper is 
dried it burns slowly and cannot be extinguished 
by ordinary blowing. 

Green Fire 

For green fire three parts of finely powdered 
potassium chlorate and eight parts of finely pow¬ 
dered barium nitrate are mixed with three parts 
of flowers of sulphur. The two first mentioned 
substances should be ground separately. The 
resulting mixture is placed in a bottle until time 
for use. It is ignited with touch-paper. 

Purple Fire 

Purple fire gives a beautiful hue, and of all the 
colored fires it is probably the most pleasing. It 
is made by mixing two parts of copper sulphate 
with two and one half parts of flowers of sulphur 
and fifteen parts of potassium chlorate. 


164 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


White Fire 

A powder that gives a dazzling white light is 
made by mixing equal parts of powdered potas¬ 
sium chlorate and magnesium powder. The au¬ 
thor would warn the amateur chemist not to light 
this mixture with a match, since it flares up 
quickly, and burned fingers are apt to result. 
Upon lighting this mixture an instantaneous 
flash of great brilliancy results. 

Blue Light 

A beautiful blue flame can be made in the follow¬ 
ing manner: Equal parts of finely pulverized 
potassium chlorate and cane-sugar are mixed to¬ 
gether. A small piece of asbestos-paper is then 
saturated with sulphuric acid. The paper is then 
dropped on the mixture. This sets up a very en¬ 
ergetic action, which is accompanied by an intense 
blue flame. 


Luminous Vapor 

Although this experiment is not so spectacular 
as some of the others described, it is extremely 
interesting, to say the least. A fairly large flask 
is filled half full of water and provided with a 
stopper as shown in Figure 69. The stopper is 


THE BOY CHEMIST 


165 


provided with a short length of small glass tubing. 
A few phosphorus match-heads are placed in the 
water. A Bunsen burner is then put under the 
flask and the water brought to a boiling-point. 
If this is done in a dark room, the steam passing 
off into the atmosphere will glow mildly with a 
greenish hue 


Nitrogen Iodide 

Nitrogen iodide is one of the most sensitive 
explosives known, although it is not extremely 

powerful. The amateur 
chemist should not make 
a great amount of it at one 
GLASS TU3E. time. If the instructions 
are carried out with care 
there will be no consider¬ 
able danger. 

A little strong ammonia 
is placed in the bottom of 
a test-tube, and an equal 
quantity of concentrated 
tincture of iodine is added. 
The tincture of iodine may 
be purchased at the drug¬ 
store. When the ammonia and iodine solution is 
thoroughly mixed a black substance will be seen 








166 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 

to separate out. This is nitrogen iodide. While 
in solution, however, it is not at all explosive, and 
it must be thoroughly dried before it will explode. 
The contents of the tube are shaken up, and small 
quantities of the solution are poured on pieces of 
newspaper. The pieces of paper must be allowed 
to dry for one hour, after which time the ni¬ 
trogen iodide will be in a sensitive condition. In 
fact, it is so sensitive that it will explode when 
tickled with a long feather. The report is very 
sharp. 


How to Make “Caps” 
i ‘Caps” or detonators are made with very lit¬ 
tle trouble, and the amateur chemist can supply 
himself with several hundred of them for use on 
the Fourth of July. Potassium chlorate is first 
ground up well in a mortar. Then an equal 
amount of sulphur is ground up to a powder in 
the same way. The potassium chlorate and sul¬ 
phur are then carefully mixed together. Only a 
few teaspoonfuls at a time should be mixed. The 
mixed powder is then pasted between two strips 
of paper. This arrangement constitutes a cap, 
and when it receives a sharp blow from the heel 
of the shoe it will explode. The amateur chem¬ 
ist is cautioned not to place too much of the pow- 


THE BOY CHEMIST 


167 


der between the paper. The amount that could 
be held upon the point of a small jack-knife blade 
is sufficient for each cap. 


COMPOUND, 



Pharoah's Serpents 

Pharoah’s serpents are easy to make, and they 
afford a great deal of amusement. It will be 
remembered that Pharoah’s serpents are little 
coils of ash that are caused to come forth from a 

small tin-foil case. The method 
of making them is shown in 
foil The compound used 

is wrapped in a tin-foil case. 
The compound is made up of 
two parts of potassium dichro¬ 
mate, three parts of white sugar, and one part of 
potassium nitrate These ingredients, after be¬ 
ing carefully powdered, are made into a paste by 
wetting them with a small amount of water. 
There should be just enough water to make them 
hold together. While damp the paste is wrapped 
in tin-foil, the tin-foil being wrapped in a cone 
shape and a small piece of fuse left to protrude 
at the top. 


Fig. 70 


APPENDIX 


How the Chemist Weighs 

The chemist uses what is known as the metric 
system of weighing. Pounds and ounces have no 
place in this system, for they are comparatively 
crude units when applied to science. In most,of 
the European countries the metric system is used 
exclusively because it is more simple and far more 
scientific. So if we want to be chemists we shall 
have to use the metric system in our weighing. 
Let us not make the mistake, however, of suppos¬ 
ing that it is a complicated way of measuring. 

In the metric system the weights run in tens, as 
follows: 

1000 milligrams — 1 gram 
100 centigrams — 1 gram 
10 decigrams = 1 gram 
1000 grams = 1 kilogram 

A kilogram is equivalent to about 2.2 pounds. 
Therefore, with this as a working basis, we can 

figure out just about how much one gram amounts 

168 


APPENDIX 


169 


to. Kilo means thousand, and there are a thou¬ 
sand grams in a kilogram, and about fifty grams 
in a pound. 

How Chemists Measure 
The chemist also uses the metric system in 
measuring volume. For instance, we have a grad¬ 
uated cylinder that may hold as many as 100 or 
150 c.c. Now, 1 c.c. is equivalent to ten cubic 
millimeters according to the following table: 

10 cubic millimeters — 1 cubic centimeter 
10 cubic centimeters— 1 cubic decimeter 
10 cubic decimeters = 1 cubic meter 
1000 cubic centimeters — 1 liter 

As a working basis we can visualize a liter as 
being approximately equivalent to a standard 
quart-measure, and this liter contains one thou¬ 
sand cubic centimeters. Therefore, we decide 
that the centimeter is very small, even when com¬ 
pared to a gill, which is one of the smallest meas¬ 
ures in the English system. 

Where to Buy Chemicals 
The young chemist should know where to buy 
his chemicals so that he can send for them by par¬ 
cel post in the event that the corner drug-store 


170 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


does not carry what he wants. The following 
concerns can supply such chemicals in small quan¬ 
tities : 

L. E. Knott Apparatus Company, Boston, 
Massachusetts. 

Eimer & Amend, 205-211 Third Avenue, New 
York City. 

Central Scientific Company, Chicago, Illinois. 

How to Measure Temperature 

The chemist often finds it necessary to meas¬ 
ure temperature. For instance, he may wish to 
boil a liquid at 150 degrees Centigrade, and to do 
this he must employ a thermometer. A thermom¬ 
eter is simply a glass tube having mercury at one 
end. When the mercury is immersed in the boil¬ 
ing liquid it expands and moves up through 
the center of the glass tube. If the tube is 
properly calibrated the temperature can then be 
read. 

Temperature is measured by two different 
scales. One is called the Centigrade scale. If we 
look at the attached diagram we shall see that the 
Centigrade scale is considerably different from 
the every-day or Fahrenheit scale, for the ther¬ 
mometers shown are both indicating a tempera¬ 
ture of the same value. We see then that 110 


APPENDIX 


171 


degrees Fahrenheit is only equal to 40 degrees 
Centigrade. 

Temperature plays a most important part in 

chemistry. There is heat produced wherever 

there is a chemical 

reaction. In some 
Swung Point ,, . . 

c ioo° ca ses the heat pro- 


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Oftentimes the dif¬ 
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ical activity be¬ 
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When we dissolve salts in water the tem¬ 
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172 BOYS’ PLAYBOOK OF CHEMISTRY 


dissolve it in some water. Before we dissolve the 
salt we place a thermometer in the beaker contain¬ 
ing the water and then pour the salt in, stirring 
it with a stirring-rod. We shall be surprised to 
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